Northern Trust

On the first weekend of December, Citi Securities Services went live on the last of 26 former RBC Treasury & Investor Services clients, putting an exclamation point behind one of the biggest and most complex of backoffice transitions. The RBC clients, predominantly fund managers and wealth platforms, are adding about $100 billion in assets under…

While factor investing has been taken up globally, it’s seen slower pickup in the highly concentrated Australian equity market. That’s starting to change. The success of traditional active management is mostly due to its exposure to the most common factors: value, momentum, quality, and low volatility. But while factor-based investing has become globally ubiquitous, challenges…

It’s hard to think about tomorrow when you’re having a good time today, and a decade of ripping equity market returns has investors convinced that the party can go on. While equity markets have outpaced “even the most optimistic forecasts” in recent years, Northern Trust Asset Management (NT) believes that those red hot returns could…

The advent of Your Future Your Super (YFYS) and a new wave of climate regulation means institutional investors are increasingly turning their gaze towards decarbonisation, according to Northern Trust Asset Management. Scott Bennett, Northern Trust Asset Management head of quantitative research and client solutions for Australia and New Zealand, believes YFYS and other regulations have…

Fund managers show a keen willingness to embrace data science and systems such as centralised data platforms for decision making when it comes to formal surveys. But the reality is still something different. According to a survey of 300 global asset management firms sponsored by the asset servicing arm of Northern Trust, nearly half (48…

BNZ, NAB’s NZ subsidiary, has appointed State Street Global Advisors to replace Vanguard as its core international assets index manager among a raft of investment mandate changes. In disclosure documents filed last week (May 19), BNZ named SSGA to take over passive management duties from Vanguard in global equities and fixed income covering its KiwiSaver…

The Israel Institute of NZ lobbied to halt the exclusion of certain banking stocks from the NZ Superannuation Fund’s portfolio this year, according to recently released documents. In an Official Information Act (OIA) request on April 12, the local Israel association asked for confirmation the NZ Government’s largest super fund had told underlying managers that…

The three largest global custodian banks have enjoyed hefty increases in the total assets under custody and administration in the March quarter as markets continued to rebound. BNY Mellon is still the biggest. BNY Mellon remained the largest in the world, by a whisker, ahead of State Street, but third-placed J.P. Morgan Chase, America’s largest…

Front-to-back services and market activity have helped the big global asset servicing companies to record levels of assets under custody and administration in the March quarter, despite falling interest income. State Street emphasised the success of its front-to-back offering, which it calls ‘State Street Alpha’, with the quarterly Wall Street earnings statement (April 16) coinciding…

While a combination of factors is driving the alternatives investment sector towards full maturity, pressure is also mounting on fund manager and investor capabilities for efficiency and governance. According to a short paper by Northern Trust’s asset servicing arm, the weight of money into alternatives leading to a broadening investor base, regulators and increasing congestion…