Meliosa O’Caoimh, Ireland Country Head, Northern Trust: Supporting pension schemes with their oversight and governance through independent reporting is very much a specialism for custodians like Northern Trust. For pension funds, independent services available to support institutional governance include providing a ‘book of record’ to clients – a complete picture of all scheme investments, regardless of where they are held, often reconciling data from multiple sources to do so.

From pension funds to mutual funds, global custodians continue to be well placed to meet clients’ requirements for timely, accurate and insightful information. More broadly, custodians also provide the investment reporting, foundational data, and automated solutions that support clients in navigating the complex range of investment opportunities they are faced with today.

And, as investments become more complex, the modern custodian is also again well placed to help funds overcome the challenges of monitoring, valuing or reporting on more opaque or illiquid alternative asset classes such as property, infrastructure or private equity.