Northern Trust announces ETF veteran as latest hire
Northern Trust Asset Management (NTAM) has appointed David Abner as its new head of global ETFs and funds.
In the role, he will be tasked with overseeing the firm’s mutual fund and ETF product strategy, alongside capital markets. He will also have oversight of NTAM’s fund services and treasury functions.
Abner joins the investment manager as a “recognised industry leader”, according to NTAM, most recently serving as the global head of business development at Gemini Crypto Exchange.
Before this, Abner spent more than a decade with WisdomTree Asset Management across a number of leadership roles, including as CEO of WisdomTree Europe and as product strategist on digital assets and ETFs.
Earlier in his career, he also held leadership positions in ETFs at BNP Paribas and Bear Stearns & Co.
NTAM global head of product Paula Kar, who Abner will be reporting to, described him as a “visionary leader in the ETF industry”.
“As NTAM advances its mutual fund and ETF strategy, we are confident that David’s expertise in building new businesses will allow us to provide our clients with innovative and improved solutions to all of their investment needs,” Kar said.
According to the firm, it had some $230 billion in assets under management in US mutual funds and global ETFs as at 31 March. As such, NTAM underscored the importance of its mutual fund and ETF product strategy being able to anticipate and meet the investment needs of all clients.
“NTAM’s mutual funds and ETF are designed to provide best-in-class investment solutions for our clients, leveraging our decades of experience and a deliberate development process,” NTAM president Daniel Gamba said.
“As we innovate and continue to build our suite of funds, David’s proven leadership and deep expertise will help drive NTAM’s continued growth in this key area of our business,” Gamba concluded.
Recommended for you
Outflows from an Australian private markets fund manager have caused FUM at Pacific Current to decline by $1 billion in the last quarter.
Former RIAA chief executive Simon O’Connor has joined the ethical advisory panel at U Ethical Investors.
Financial services leaders are “all cashed up with nowhere to grow” when it comes to M&A activity, according to Deloitte, with 90 per cent saying they have strong balance sheets ready for an acquisition.
As fund managers are urged to diversify their product ranges, they are finding a faster way to do this is via an acquisition of existing firms but experts say it is not without potential culture clashes.