Standard Bank expands agreement with GEPF to include securities lending services
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Standard Bank expands agreement with GEPF to include securities lending services 03 March 2021South Africa Reporter: Maddie Saghir
Image: Adam Bateman and Kenny Fihla
Standard Bank has partnered with BNY Mellon, building on their 23-year strategic relationship, to deliver custody services for South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF).
This comes as part of its mandate to provide investor services product and service solutions for GEPF’s portfolio of assets currently worth over R2 trillion ($134 billion), following the end of its most recent five-year contract with the bank.
Under the new agreement, Standard Bank’s master custody and investment reporting mandate has been expanded to include securities lending among other services.
Standard Bank will provide custody services in South Africa, Africa Regions, and international markets.
These services will be combined with securities lending to provide an investment reporting solution, which includes investment accounting, mandate compliance monitoring, performance and risk reporting services for all of the GEPF’s listed and unlisted investment portfolios.
GEPF says the renewal of the mandate cements Standard Bank’s position as Africa’s largest provider of custody and related services.
The group’s assets under custody, administration, and trusteeship have risen to more than R10.3 trillion ($708 billion) as of 31 December 2020.
“We are pleased to have been re-awarded this contract following a competitive tendering process. We believe our reappointment as the sole custodian and investment reporting agent for Africa’s largest asset owner is testament to our strong capabilities in this area,” says Kenny Fihla, chief executive for corporate and investment banking at Standard Bank.
Adam Bateman, head of business development for Standard Bank Investor Services, says: “Standard Bank has acted as custodian to GEPF since the fund’s inception in 1996 and in 2015 expanded its mandate with the fund to include investment reporting services.|
According to Bateman, Standard Bank’s integrated custody and investment reporting solutions will provide the GEPF with asset safety and independent valuations, alongside other services designed to monitor fund manager mandates and mitigate risk.
“Our partnership with BNY Mellon has allowed us to enhance and grow our investor services business reach in supporting large cross-border asset owners and asset manager mandates such as this,” Bateman adds.
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Image: Adam Bateman and Kenny Fihla 