Northern Trust has hired Stephen Andress as Global Head of Derivatives Operations to manage, and oversee the strategic development of, its back office derivatives processing technology infrastructure, team and capabilities.
The role is new and was created in response to the increasing use of derivatives by Northern Trust's investor and fund manager clients.
"Enhancing our derivatives processing capabilities globally, by adding expertise and developing automated solutions for over-the-counter derivatives in particular, is a high strategic priority for Northern Trust and we recognise that there is an opportunity for us to take a leadership position in the market," commented Joyce St Clair, Executive Vice President in Northern Trust's Worldwide Operations and Technology group.
Mr. Andress brings over 18 years' operations experience to Northern Trust. He joined from Commerzbank where he was Global Head of OTC Derivatives Operations and Collateral Management from 2001 in London and Frankfurt. Before this, he worked at State Street Bank & Trust Company from 1988.
A derivative is a financial contract whose value changes in relation to the price movements of its related or underlying security or asset, such as a commodity, bond, equity or currency, or a combination of these. The two main types of derivatives are exchange traded derivatives, which are bought and sold on specialist exchanges, and over-the-counter ("OTC") derivatives which are customised contracts between two or more contracting parties. Pricing, administering and acting as custodian for these types of derivatives can be highly complex.
"Derivatives have been around for a long time but, traditionally, have not been favoured by large institutional investors, such as pension funds -- but things are changing and this trend is set to continue," added Ms. St Clair. "Over the last three years, the volume of derivatives that Northern Trust processed increased by 30% each year, and we processed as many OTC derivatives in the first quarter of 2006 as we did during the whole of 2005. Stephen's role is focused on providing accurate and scaleable automated solutions to meet client requirements and complement Northern Trust's broader asset management - including liability driven investment ("LDI") - global custody, fund administration and investment operations outsourcing activities."