Northern Trust has appointed a new business development manager to its Australian asset servicing business. Christopher Thomson joins the firm from JP Morgan Treasury Services.

In his previous role, Thomson served as sales and relationship manager. Prior to that role, he was a client relationship manager and investment operations manager with various firms, including Goldman Sachs JBWere and State Street Australia. In his new role, he reports to Jeremy Hester, head of business development for Northern Trust Australia. 

The appointment comes as the company tries to build on its base of 14 institutional clients with some A$137 billion ($140 billion) in assets under custody in Australia and New Zealand. The hire of Thomson and other professionals over the past months has expanded the Australian team by 54 per cent in 2012. The company has also secured additional office space in Melbourne as a result of this growth.

Northern Trust provides investment management, asset and fund administration and banking solutions for corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide. In Australia, it has around A$60 billion in assets under administration as of 30 June 2012.