Northern Trust names North Asia head of client asset servicing

Northern Trust, which has been building its regional executive team, has named Margaret Law, previously of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as head of client services for the division in North Asia, excluding China.

The role will be similar to the one previously fulfilled by Lawrence Au, the former head of Hong Kong asset servicing, who departed last year for BNP Paribas Securities Services.

The position has been restructured to include the development of services in accordance to client needs, says Northern Trust. This coincides with a growth in demand for fund administration and other services for government entities and investment managers based in Asia, adds the firm.

“Margaret has already been involved in the launch of a new Japanese investment trust product for a new client to our asset servicing business,” says Teresa Parker, Northern Trust’s Asia-Pacific chief executive. “This product was launched in connection with our asset management business in Tokyo.”

At BoA Merrill, Law served as manager of Hong Kong operations in the area of client execution of cash equity, fixed income and listed derivatives trades through the brokerage unit. Her mandate also covered operations support for investment banking in the region. Prior to that, she was head of fund services sales at HSBC in Hong Kong.

Northern Trust plans to make more senior hires in Asia as part of its growth plans in the region, says Parker. The firm last year appointed Pamela Yuen to head North Asia business development out of Hong Kong and added William Mak as Singapore country manager and head of Southeast Asia.