KAS BANK's custody arm has won three UK pension mandates.

The trio of funds - with combined £1.6bn of assets under management - include the BMA Staff Pension Scheme and a major UK public trust.

Arla Foods Pension Plan, managed by Legal & General, has also picked KAS BANK following a review of existing custodian arrangements.

The new business comes after the Dutch-based bank decided to focus its asset servicing efforts on UK pension funds two years ago.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, the firm already services a third of the Netherlands pension market.

Pat Sharman, managing director for the UK branch, joined KAS BANK from HSBC Securities Services in 2015.

She told Global Investor/ISF that the company has identified a huge gap in the market when it comes to small to medium-sized pension funds.

“We are helping under-serviced and overcharged funds make better informed decisions with sophisticated reporting services, including cost transparency and benchmaking," Sharman said. 

“Having spent 30 years at a major global custodian, I was frustrated by the restrictions in terms of what I wanted to do with my clients,” she added.

“The attraction of KAS BANK is that it is independent so there are no conflictions – it is just a securities business. We do not have battles with the rest of the bank.”

KAS BANK aims to position itself “very differently to the other providers out there,” according to Sharman. 

“That may not be for everyone but we certainly think we’ll be attractive to the pension markets.”

She anticipates further growth in the pension market over the next 12 to 18 months, adding that “pension funds don’t move quickly.”