Northern Trust Announces Further Alliance as Part of Whole Office Strategy

Northern Trust and IHS Markit’s thinkFolio to deliver front-to-back operating efficiencies for the buy side

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As part of its continuing strategy to serve client needs across the entire investment lifecycle, Northern Trust has entered into an alliance with IHS Markit, provider of the thinkFolio multi-asset class investment management platform, achieving a further significant milestone in its drive to streamline investment operations for asset managers and asset owners.

The certified integration between thinkFolio and Northern Trust’s middle office outsourcing platform will provide opportunities for both firms to offer mutual institutional clients innovative solutions and services leveraging one another’s strengths across the investment value chain.

Bringing together thinkFolio with Northern Trust’s middle office technology, services and expertise will provide a fully-integrated, end-to-end process that streamlines workflows and mitigates clients’ operational costs. The collaboration continues to build on advanced technology solutions and interoperable architecture that the respective companies have implemented for asset manager and asset owner clients. Clients will benefit from an innovative service model with experts from both Northern Trust and IHS Markit supporting their tactical and strategic operational and technology needs.

As part of the managed service delivery of thinkFolio, IHS Markit manages upgrades and real-time feeds and executes overnight data loads and start-of-day processes. Through this ongoing collaboration with Northern Trust, thinkFolio clients leveraging the IHS Markit managed service hosted on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud will benefit from a seamless technology and service experience, which is focused on multi-asset class transaction capture, enhanced position data synchronization and reconciliation.

“We have a long-standing relationship with thinkFolio and are excited to be working with them as we continue our drive to offer clients flexibility, scalability and best-in-class solution optionality across our Whole Office ecosystem,” said Pete Cherecwich, president of Corporate & Institutional Services at Northern Trust. “Our collaboration and technology integration with a number of leading front office platforms is key to driving operational efficiencies for our clients, minimizing implementation costs, reducing operational costs, increasing speed to market – and ultimately positively impacts their bottom line, helping them to optimize performance.”

“The theme of front-to-back solutions continues to be prominent as institutional investors are asking their middle and back office counterparties for increased control, transparency and workflow efficiency across the post-trade segments of the securities transaction lifecycle,” said Brett Schechterman, managing director and global head of thinkFolio at IHS Markit. “We are advocates for Northern Trust’s Whole Office open architecture and interoperable ethos and look forward to matching thinkFolio’s cross-asset class strength, flexibility and managed service with the strength of Northern Trust’s middle office solutions to deliver further operational alpha for our clients.”

Northern Trust Whole Office™ is an advanced open architecture, multi-asset class solution serving diverse market participants including asset managers, asset owners, investors and third party administrators. By integrating proprietary architecture with innovative partners, Northern Trust Whole Office facilitates client access to new technologies and capabilities across the spectrum of Strategy and Trading, Operational, Data and Digital and Analytics solutions.

About IHS Markit (www.ihsmarkit.com)
IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO) is a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide. The company delivers next-generation information, analytics and solutions to customers in business, finance and government, improving their operational efficiency and providing deep insights that lead to well-informed, confident decisions. IHS Markit has more than 50,000 business and government customers, including 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500 and the world’s leading financial institutions. Headquartered in London, IHS Markit is committed to sustainable, profitable growth.

About Northern Trust
Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has a global presence with offices in 22 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and across 22 locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of December 31, 2020, Northern Trust had assets under custody/administration of US$14.5 trillion, and assets under management of US$1.4 trillion. For more than 130 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader for exceptional service, financial expertise, integrity and innovation. Please visit our website or follow us on Twitter.

Northern Trust Corporation, Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A., incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Please read our global and regulatory information.

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