Northern Trust Launches ML for Asset Owner Research

As part of its initiative to bring greater efficiency and transparency to alternatives asset servicing, Northern Trust has launched a feature within its Front Office Solutions platform that utilizes machine learning to empower sophisticated asset allocators with better oversight of their research process. Each month, asset allocators for endowments, foundations, family offices and other institutions receive thousands of files including newsletters, fund statements, quarterly updates, and legal documents that are manually filed for investment manager research purposes. The new feature leverages knowledge of a user’s past behavior to tag research management documents with intelligently suggested attributes before uploading them to the Front Office Solutions platform. Emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, blockchain and cloud technology have allowed a higher level of automation in alternative investments such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure, which have traditionally required complex, manual processing. Northern Trust previously announced document procurement and document digitization solutions to provide more efficiency and improved oversight for asset owners investing in alternatives.