UK-based asset manager Artemis has selected Northern Trust to provide outsourced trading services for its equities and derivatives activity, effective January 2025.
The active investment house with $33 billion offers a range of funds that invest in the UK, Europe, the US and around the world, and selected Northern Trust for a range of asset services earlier this year.
Speaking to The TRADE, Sheenagh Dougall, chief operating officer, Artemis, said: “What ultimately informed the decision was what this could do for our clients and how it could enhance their returns.
“Our centralised dealing desk has done a fantastic job for our business and for our clients, but I think we recognise some of the limitations of having a dealing desk in-house in a firm of Artemis’s size where we can’t do that follow the sun method. We are based in the UK, but we have funds that operate in the US and in emerging market space and, potentially, could we do better in those areas and have better coverage?”
Northern Trust will support all trading activity for Artemis’ equity funds under management and all related over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives. The appointment follows a review by Artemis of its operating model intended to help align its operational structure with its strategic growth plans.
Four members of Artemis’ dealing team will move to Northern Trust.
Mark Murray, senior partner at Artemis, said: “Outsourcing our equity and derivatives trading to Northern Trust ensures our continued access to global markets, whilst delivering high-quality liquidity and operational scale, further expanding the partnership and strong cultural fit between our organisations.
“We are confident this extension of service delivers the capabilities and operational resilience we require – supporting our focus on providing outstanding returns and service for our investors, as well as our ambitious plans for the continued growth of our business.”
Northern Trust is on an unprecedented run of securing outsourced trading mandates over the past 12 months, signing deals with True Potential, Waverton Investment Management, 2Xideas and Nedgroup. A major mandate was also secured with Rathbones in April 2023.
“We are excited to be partnering further with Artemis to support their end-to-end requirements for global equities and derivatives trading,” said Glenn Poulter, global head of brokerage at Northern Trust.
“The mandate supports Artemis’ focus on growth and complements our existing relationship: driving efficiencies through our global technology architecture, straight-through-processing and an integrated service proposition – from execution to custody – that now supports the complete lifecycle of its investments.”