Under an agreement approved by QIC's Board of Directors, Northern Trust has been appointed to provide a broad suite of middle office functions including unit pricing, registry, trade services, reconciliations, investment accounting, performance and risk analytics, post-trade compliance monitoring, client reporting, fee administration and billing. The appointment of Northern Trust was made after a comprehensive due diligence and selection process.

"Outsourcing middle office services will give QIC a flexible and scalable operational platform to support our local and global investment management activities," QIC Chief Executive Doug McTaggart said. "We chose Northern Trust because of their depth and breadth of expertise in middle office services and their ability to deliver what QIC is looking for."

Investment Operations Outsourcing is a growing business at Northern Trust, said Steven Fradkin, President of Corporate and Institutional Services at Northern Trust. "As investment firms increasingly see the value in a specialist provider that can deliver true transparency, greater control and speed to market for their products, clients want a partner who becomes an extension of their business," Fradkin said. "Northern Trust's culture, steeped in partnership and service, is a perfect fit for the operations outsourcing relationship."

"We are delighted with this strategic appointment, which reflects Northern Trust's ability to provide a broad range of market-leading solutions for asset managers and asset owners in the region," said Paul Cutts, Northern Trust's Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand.

"Our Investment Operations Outsourcing team can help fund managers to execute their business strategy better, faster, and more predictably at a time when that has never been more important," Cutts said. "We look forward to supporting QIC's continued growth in the Australian fund market, as well as the launch of new fund structures in Europe and other markets where QIC sees demand for its institutional strategies."