Hostplus extends Citi mandate

Hostplus is extending its custodial and fund administration services mandate with Citi for five years.

Hostplus chief executive David Elia said via an in-depth process, "Citi remains best placed to deliver custodial services that are critical to supporting our long-term business and investment strategies, and we value their ongoing commitment to the fund and our members."

"The outcome reflects Citi's cultural alignment with the fund, their depth of capability and the quality of solutions they bring to our custodial arrangements," he said.

Citi and Hostplus have worked together for 13 years. Citi first won the contract in 2013 as part of Hostplus' transformation to becoming a pooled superannuation trust (PST).

In awarding the mandate, Hostplus chief investment officer Sam Sicilia said at the time that Citi won the tender after an 18-month process. J.P. Morgan was the fund's previous custodian, a position it had held for 14 years.

Hostplus now has more than $150 billion in funds under management and 1.9 million members.

Citi Australia and New Zealand co-head of services Mark England said: "As Australia's $4.5 trillion superannuation sector continues to grow and faces greater regulatory obligations and investment requirements, Citi is confident that our capabilities and integrated solutions are unmatched in the market. The combination of our platform, people and unparallelled global network positions us as the long-term provider of choice for industry super."

According to the Australian Custodial Services Association, assets under custody (AUC) in Australia grew to $6.2 trillion in the first half of FY26, an increase of 8.6% on the June 2025 figure.

The top five custodians by size currently are J.P. Morgan ($1.49tn), State Street ($1.08tn), Citigroup ($1.05tn), Northern Trust ($995bn), and BNP Paribas ($824.2bn).

BNP Paribas' AUC jumped the highest by nearly 50% in the second half of 2025 following deals with Insignia Financial, University of Sydney Endowment Fund and Medibank Private.