Saudi Arabia’s National Development Fund (NDF) has appointed Chicago-based Northern Trust as custodian for the US$16 billion-plus of assets managed by the sovereign wealth fund.
The move is aimed at “improved asset management, increased financial transparency, and efficiency by integrating and simplifying financial operations related to asset management, leading to reduced operating costs, increased effectiveness, and improved operational efficiency and financial security”, NDF says in a statement on August 22.
According to Khalid Ibrahim Sharif, vice governor of the NDF, Northern Trust was chosen for its extensive experience working with “prestigious institutions”, and has similar operational models and requirements as the wealth fund.
Kholoud Al-Dosari, country head of Northern Trust in Saudi Arabia, says the company is committed to expand its services across the Middle East and investing in infrastructure development.
“We remain focused on delivering world-class services and solutions that exceed the evolving needs of our clients,” he says.
Northern Trust had US$1.4 trillion of assets under management and $15.4 trillion of assets under custody/administration as of end-2023.