Case — APG-AM | Dealing room & Sustainability services

Go for a smooth switch to cleared transactions and proper EMIR reporting.

APG is one of the world’s largest pension investors, with offices in Heerlen, Amsterdam, New York and Hong Kong. By February 2021, the assets that APG manages for its pension funds and its 4.7 million participants (through its independent Asset Management unit) represented a value of approximately 568 billion euros. To manage its assets as responsibly as possible, APG aims to achieve attractive and sustainable investment returns for its customers.

What was the problem?

As part of EMIR regulations, financial institutions have to switch from OTC derivatives to cleared transactions, preventing direct credit risk exposure to bilateral counterparties. Centrally cleared trades reduce the risk of the financial system being impacted when one counterparty defaults. Aside from moving to centrally cleared trades, all trades must be reported to the regulator. These changes allow for positions and risks to be monitored properly and on time. 

Why did APG-AM ask for Varrlyn’s help?

To book, confirm and administer centrally cleared CDS and IRS derivatives, APG-AM needed help to set up front-to-back functionalities in their IT systems. 

How did Varrlyn work together with APG-AM?

The project, which lasted 1 year, involved 2 of our experts and 2 of APG’s team members. Varrlyn created and coordinated the functional design, and built and tested the initial implementation. For the organization’s collateral management and regulatory departments, Varrlyn also set up (or improved and tested) the organization’s transaction reporting, data extraction, data storage and reporting. 

Account manager Cherien van Ampt