UK-based investment management firm Waverton has outsourced a portion of its trading to Northern Trust Integrated Trading Solutions (ITS).
The deal follows a review by the investment manager of its operating model intended to help it better align its structure with plans for product expansion in the future. Waverton has £9.1 billion in assets under management.
Two of Waverton’s trader, Rene Naya and Sam Tresadern, have joined Northern Trust as part of the agreement.
“Outsourcing our trading to Northern Trust provides Waverton with access to global markets, high-quality liquidity and operational scale, while also allowing us to continue benefiting from Rene and Sam’s valuable institutional knowledge of our business,” said Michael Allen, chief operating officer at Waverton.
“In addition to both organisations’ strong service ethos and cultural fit, we are confident this combination delivers the service and operational resilience we require to support our growth aspirations.”
Northern Trust is supporting the trading of equities, derivatives and fixed income assets as Waverton’s sole provider of trading services.
“We are excited to be supporting Waverton’s commitment to client service and focus on growth in our role as its outsourced trading provider,” said Glenn Poulter, global head of brokerage and ITS at Northern Trust.
“To date, our ITS client base has consisted primarily of institutional asset managers and asset owners, but we see increasing interest in this solution from wealth managers as they look to enhance operating capacity and future-proof their operating models. Our appointment by Waverton is testament to this shift.”=
Earlier this year The TRADE conducted its inaugural Outsourced Trading Survey in partnership with Ergo Consultancy, exploring the shifting landscape. Around a third of respondents were asset managers.
Outsourcing in various forms has come to the fore in recent years, spanning from outsourcing the entire trading desk, to using providers for outsourced technology and operations.