Northern Trust’s Insurance Solutions business has added 22 clients with approximately USD65 billion in assets over the past two years, driven by rising demand for outsourcing and success with competitive bidding for large mandates.
“As insurance companies face increasing complexity in their investment mix and reporting requirements, we are seeing more interest in outsourcing back- and middle-office operations along with global custody and insurance accounting,” says Chris Dvorak (pictured), head of Insurance Solutions at Northern Trust. “Outsourcing these functions to a provider that can perform them more efficiently and cost-effectively allows the insurance company to focus on its core business and spend more time providing its customers with excellent service.”
One of the new clients is Grange Insurance of Columbus, Ohio, which appointed Northern Trust to provide a range of services, including global custody and insurance investment accounting, for USD2.5 billion in assets.
“As Grange continues to grow as an insurance company, Northern Trust provides a dedicated group of experienced relationship managers and technology designed to address our evolving challenges in risk management and regulatory reporting,” says Chris Montgomery, Chief Investment Officer of Grange. “A key element for us is Northern Trust’s multi-basis, multi-currency insurance investment accounting solution, which provides efficient, scalable support for our business.”
Northern Trust has a strategic focus on the insurance segment. Mandates for new insurance clients in 2017 and 2018 include asset servicing, accounting, investment operations, asset management and capital markets support for insurance general account and pension assets, derivatives portfolios and VEBA trusts.
“Insurance companies that are reaching the limits of their technology and operations platform need to partner with service providers with the tools, talent and global strength to support their future growth,” says Dvorak. “With services that allow clients to quickly take on new asset types, such as private equity, hedge funds and other alternative investments, and meet regulatory and reporting demands more efficiently, Northern Trust’s focus on the needs of insurance companies continues to resonate in the marketplace.”
