Northern Trust has been picked to provide a range of fund services and global custody to Crossmark Global Investments, a $1.3 billion Texas-based fund manager.
The services will cover the Crossmark Steward mutual funds, comprised of global equity, US equity and US fixed income assets.
Crossmark previously used a range of different providers for its post-trade services, including FIS Investor Services for transfer agency and Citi for fund administration and accounting, which it is now consolidating with Northern Trust.
“Increasing operational efficiency and reducing costs for the Steward Funds were our primary objectives in seeking a new fund services provider, but cultural alignment with our firm was equally important,” said Michael Kern III, president and CEO, Crossmark.
“Through our due diligence process it became clear that Northern Trust’s vision for technological innovation and commitment to client-centric service put them in the best position to provide the proactive operational support we sought in a manner consistent with our values.”
Northern Trust is set to roll out a new asset servicing technology architecture that will sit on top of its existing custody and fund administration platforms.
The event-driven architecture, called Matrix, aims to centralise all of the data captured by its underlying custody, fund administration and transfer agency platforms.
In addition to Matrix, last year it brought the Omnium technology team in-house in a bid to develop a range of strategic new fund services and outsourcing products.
“Outsourcing key operational functions to a trusted provider will allow Crossmark to focus on executing its business strategy, growing assets in its funds and helping clients meet their investment goals,” added Ryan Burns, head of Northern Trust Global Fund Services, Americas.