Northern Trust has appointed Chris Blakey as head of product management fund administration for the EMEA region.

In this newly created role based in London, Mr Blakey oversees groups delivering traditional funds and fund of hedge funds, along with pooling solutions.

Mr Blakey joins Northern Trust from Citibank where he had held various positions within product management, product development, and project and strategy. 

Mark Schoen, head of product management for asset servicing in EMEA, said: “Institutional investors and fund managers are increasingly looking for innovative fund administration solutions, particularly as they diversify their allocations into alternatives… we are delighted to appoint Chris to this newly created position to oversee this important group at Northern Trust.”

Meanwhile, in December Northern Trust said it would cut around 450 jobs beginning at the start of 2009.  The losses, which amount to just under 4 per cent of Northern Trust’s workforce, are part of a cost-cutting exercise aimed at generating between $50 million to $60 million in annualised pre-tax savings.

Chicago-headquartered Northern Trust has a network of 85 offices in 18 US states, along with international offices in 15 locations across North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

As of 30 September 2008, Northern Trust had assets under custody of $3.5trillion, and assets under investment management of $652.4 billion.