“We have been winning business from European pension funds, banks and other brokers, primarily smaller and medium-sized players, which is who we aim at,” said Bob Goulooze, head of public relations at the Netherlands-headquartered operation.
However, the largest mandate Kas got under its belt this year was a E5bn custody contract from Dutch asset manager AZL. “Sometimes we catch big fish”, Mr Goulooze conceded.
New products in order routing, transition management, currency overlay, fund administration and proxy voting have been crucial to the new business wins.
Also, “we now offer multi-market clearing”, said Mr Goulooze. “Instead of using a different party to clear for you in and every different European market, we can do it all for you. We are cross selling a lot of existing clients this service.”
Income from clearing and settlement was up E500,000 in the first half of 2004. In custody, income has increased by E1m and in securities lending, by E5.2m.
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