QSuper signs custody deal with State Street

QSuper has dropped NAB Asset Servicing as its custodian and signed State Street as the replacement.

The decision to sign a new agreement with State Street came after a six-month tender process from a "range of potential custodians", said QSuper chief financial officer Michael Cottier.

"State Street stood out from the crowd, offering quality, breadth and depth of services, advanced technology, and global capability," Cottier said.

The new custodian will provide services such as unit pricing, compliance monitoring, alternative asset reporting and tax services for QSuper's $32 billion in global investment assets, said Cottier.

State Street Global Services vice president, head of sales, Greg O'Sullivan said State Street's proprietary technology gave it an advantage over the other custodians in the market.

"We own the build, we own the development and we own the maintenance [of our technology], which gives us incredible flexibility," O'Sullivan said.

State Street now services around $80 billion in Australian superannuation assets. SunSuper, REST and Non Government Super are also clients of State Street.

A transition plan will now take place as the custody of QSuper's $32 billion in assets is handed over to State Street, said O'Sullivan.

"We work with the client and we work with the incumbent. Everybody goes into that process with the right attitude. Everybody's focused on mitigating risk for the client and for themselves," said O'Sullivan.