The NSW Trustee and Guardian, which oversees a fiduciary fund of about $3 billion, is understood to have decided on a new securities services provider and custodian following a review by KPMG and a tender process.

The fund, which came about through the merger in 2009 of the NSW Public Trustee and the Office of the NSW Protective Commissioner, is expected to announce soon that Citi will replace JP Morgan for its securities services contract.

While the contract is relatively small by the standards of most custodians, it is interesting that Citi is understood to have won the bid on its own – without its local custodian partner, NAB Asset Servicing. Citi’s two big master custody clients are the corporate Commonwealth Bank’s staff officers fund and industry fund Hostplus.

When it won Hostplus, now a $35 billion fund, in 2013 – two years before its deal with NAB Asset Servicing which replaced a similar deal that NAS had with BNY Mellon for international custody – it was considered a landmark victory with the potential to change the Australian custody industry landscape. Citi emphasised its technology, as well as global reach, to win that business.

Martin Carpenter, Citi director and head of the securities services business in Australia, declined to comment on the latest deal last week.

– G.B.