Northern Trust has announced the formation of its Digital Assets and Financial Markets group, which will be led by Justin Chapman, who currently is global head of Market Advocacy Innovation and Research. The new group combines the teams responsible for supporting the fast-growing digital asset markets and those dedicated to providing market access and insights across the traditional securities services markets.
“Clients are increasingly interested in the development of digital markets and investing in digital assets, alongside allocations to more traditional asset classes such as equities, fixed income, alternatives and private assets,” said Pete Cherecwich, president of Asset Servicing at Northern Trust, in a statement. “Rather than create separate business lines, by aligning our focus on digital and traditional markets together, we can continue to develop services and capabilities that truly reflect and enable our clients’ evolving investment strategies.”
“Traditional and digital markets already co-exist and the boundaries between the two will only continue to blur over time,” Chapman said. “At the same time as more institutional investors are entering the digital arena, the rest of the securities industry is also facing an unprecedented amount of change arising from new regulation, market evolution and the development of emerging technology capabilities. For investors wishing to navigate this environment, our new combined group will provide access to market-leading expertise, industry insights and continued innovations across all markets and all asset classes.”
Northern Trust has used blockchain technology in private equity fund administration in 2017, supported tokenization and fractionalization of bonds in 2020, and partnered in the launch of institutional-grade crypto asset custodian Zodia Custody in 2021.