The slow-burning project to enable cross-border pooling finally caught light last December when Unilever announced the launch of Univest, a €2bn ($2.4bn) pension asset pooling vehicle.

Univest is the first fully tax-transparent, cross-border pension pooling vehicle launched for a multinational corporation in the form of a Luxembourg-domiciled Fonds Commun de Placement. Northern Trust is acting as the custodian, administrator and management company.