The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has appointed Northern Trust to provide global custody, securities lending, collateral management and performance measurement services for its £20bn ($31bn) in pension assets.

“We appointed Northern Trust based on their proven expertise in supporting some of the most advanced pension funds in the UK and Continental Europe,” said Andy McKinnon, chief financial officer, PPF.

Northern Trust now provides services to five of the top 10 pension funds in the UK, according to the firm. They together representing more than £240bn in assets and approximately one fifth of the entire UK pensions market.

“We are proud to have been appointed by PPF as they evolve in terms of scale and sophistication,” said Penelope Biggs, head of Northern Trust’s institutional investor group in Europe, Middle East and Africa. 

“The retirement market in the UK faces dramatic change, particularly around defined benefit schemes, and our expertise and proven track record positions us to support the PPF with flexible and creative solutions tailored to their specific needs.”

The PPF offers compensation to eligible members of defined benefit schemes if their employer does not have sufficient assets to payout. It now has over 200,000 members and gives comfort to around 11 million people in the UK who belong to over 6,000 defined benefits schemes. It deploys multiple asset managers and invests across the full spectrum of asset classes.