BNP Paribas Securities Services has secured one of its largest custody deals in the Latin America (Latam) region, winning a mandate from Colombian pension fund Protección S.A.
The French global custodian described the deal as a “landmark mandate” for its Hispanic Latam business, after onboarding Protección’s foreign portfolio of $7.5 billion in assets.
“We chose BNP Paribas as global custodian for our foreign assets because of its global network and ability to help us access overseas markets more efficiently,” said Jose Luis Escobar, COO, Protección S.A.
Protección S.A. is one of the largest pension funds in Colombia with over $31 billion in assets under management.
Since 2010, BNP Paribas Securities Services has rapidly expanded in the Americas, launching local custody and clearing in the United States, Brazil, Colombia and Peru.
In 2015, BNP Paribas implemented new custody mandates for 16 asset managers in Colombia, managing funds with around $3 billion in assets under management.
The deal is its largest in the Latin America region for the bank, followed by its custody mandate with Brazilian asset management firm BB Gestão de Recursos DTVM and its $7 billion Qualifying Investor Fund (QIF) in 2103.
“This is prestigious new mandate which highlights the strengths of our offering in Hispanic LatAm. As a growing pension fund with an international outlook, Protección will benefit from our global and multi-local expertise around the world,” added Claudia Calderon, head of Hispanic Latam at BNP Paribas Securities Services.
Last year, BNP Paribas was also appointed the sub-custodian for Clearstream in Colombia, helping foreign investors to access the local market and enables Clearstream to offer settlement of government debt, corporate bonds and equities.
The mandate with Protección is also a significant boost to BNP Paribas’ global asset owner business. This month, the bank was selected as the global custodian and fund administrator for the pension fund of Dutch mail service Pensionenfolds PostNL and its €8.6 billion ($9.5 billion) of assets.