Northern Trust signs private markets data partner

US asset servicing and wealth management giant Northern Trust has inked a strategic partnership deal with leading private markets specialist Hamilton Lane to integrate its markets data and analytics capabilities.

Under the agreement, Hamilton Lane will provide its proprietary software, Cobalt LP, and combined services to Northern Trust Asset Servicing clients.

Cobalt LP, Hamilton Lane’s “turnkey”-ready, real-time data analytics platform, provides advanced private market analytics and pre-commitment research capabilities.

In addition, the deal with enable Northern Trust clients to leverage Hamilton Lane’s underlying portfolio company data service, which includes the tracking of core portfolio company metrics, company fundamentals and asset class-specific metrics across clients’ private markets portfolios.

Hamilton Lane’s proprietary private markets data will be made available through the Northern Trust’s integrated analytics ecosystem, Total Portfolio Analytics.

“At Hamilton Lane, our Cobalt LP platform and integrated services are designed to help asset allocators make informed decisions with greater confidence, precision and insight,” said Griffith Norville, Hamilton Lane’s head of technology solutions.

“Through this exciting collaboration, we seek to deliver a new level of transparency and timeliness to Northern Trust client portfolios,” Norville added.

Hamilton Lane is one of the world’s largest private markets investment firms, overseeing more than $940 billion in assets.

Melanie Pickett, head of asset owners, Americas and global total portfolio solutions at Northern Trust, welcomed the introduction of the “full front-to-back office decision-making solution”, which, she said, features Hamilton Lane’s front office analytics combined with Northern Trust’s core front office solutions investment book of record (IBOR) support.

According to Pickett, the new data arrangement is in response to investors’ growing demand for and already significant exposure to private markets, meeting investors’ increasing need for sophisticated private markets analytics.