The firm, which provides custodian services to institutional investors, hired Allan Nedergaard in January as head of Nordic business development to expand the firm’s asset servicing business in the region.

Mr Nedergaard said: “We’re refocusing on the Nordic region and looking to expand our presence there. It’s an important signal to the market to not just service the region from abroad and it shows our commitment.”

The firm aims to have the office up and running within six months and Mr Nedergaard said making the final decision to open an office was “imminent”.

“Stockholm is the most likely location, but we have not yet made the final decision. We will definitely hire some more people, but how many will depend on the model we chose for the office,” he said.

“I also believe it’s important to be on the ground and speak the local languages in order to attract some of the smaller and mid-size pension funds. For those clients, not speaking the language could definitely be an issue.”

Most institutional investors in the region are using domestic providers, but Mr Nedergaard aims to convince those investors to jump ship. He further believes the tremendous growth of assets that most Nordic pension funds have experienced will force them to look into providers offering other services than just the core custody business.

“We are trying to open their eyes to the additional services we are providing. The domestic firms may offer the core services, but they are struggling to compete with us in offering value added capabilities, such as transition management and risk measurement,” he said.

He also hinted that although the office would initially only serve custody-related clients, the firm’s asset management arm, State Street Global Advisors, could share the office in the long run. The asset management division just promoted Marie-Anne Heeren as head of business development for the Nordic region. She joined the firm in 2005 as a sales associate serving the region.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend