Northern Trust Peer Study: Asset Owners Focus on Data and Operating Model Resilience Amid Digital Disruption
Private market growth, elevated liquidity focus and cautious digital asset adoption shape priorities in global asset owner study
Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) today released “Asset Owners in Focus: Operational and Data Adaptation in the Era of Digital Disruption,” its second annual global peer study examining how asset owners are adapting investment strategies and operating models to support more sophisticated portfolios amid elevated liquidity demands and accelerated technological change.
Based on a global survey of more than 180 asset owners across a broad range of portfolio sizes, the study highlights a continued shift toward private markets, an increased focus on liquidity through a strategic risk lens, meaningful adoption of digital assets, and growing investment in data, technology and AI, alongside persistent challenges related to data availability and quality, operational complexity and governance.
The survey gathered responses from senior leaders of pension funds, insurance general accounts, endowments and foundations, superannuation funds, OCIOs and multi‑managers, and other institution types across the Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and APAC (Asia-Pacific) regions.
