NTAM appoints new global stewardship chief

Northern Trust Asset Management (NTAM) has appointed a new global stewardship head at the same time it revealed a new proxy voting choice solution for select investors.

London-based Paul Clark has joined the firm as Head of Global Stewardship, where he will spearhead NTAM’s investment stewardship strategy by maintaining relationships with investee companies and he will chair the Northern Trust Proxy Voting Committee.

Clark was most recently Head of Stewardship at UBS Asset Management and had been in the role since 2015 and with the firm for three decades.

“Paul’s expertise will be a tremendous asset to NTAM as we continue to grow our global stewardship team,” NTAM Head of Investment Platform Services and Clark’s direct report, Sheri Hawkins, said.

“NTAM’s investment stewardship team is committed to serving the long-term financial interests of our clients. I am confident that Paul’s leadership and deep industry experience will help us achieve and exceed our clients’ investment goals.”

The appointment comes as NTAM also released its new proxy voting solution for investors in several U.S. common and collective funds, with over $250 billion in assets under management (AUM). Combined with clients invested in equities through separately managed accounts (SMAs) representing $342 billion in AUM, this takes the amount of client equity assets that have proxy voting preferences up to 76 per cent.

“We are proud to provide investors with the ability to align their votes with their investment goals and values,” Hawkins said.

“NTAM’s investment stewardship practices are designed to ensure that the companies NTAM invests in on behalf of its clients are well-positioned to navigate shifting economic conditions, display strong governance practices and manage material risks to their business models.”

A statement from NTAM said eligible investors will have four voting guideline options to choose from, including “the option to leverage proxy voting guidelines developed by Northern Trust’s Proxy Voting Committee, giving investors in certain institutional pooled investments the ability to exercise more direct control over their votes”.

“We believe effective investment stewardship helps protect and enhance the assets our clients have entrusted us to manage. The actions announced today support NTAM’s strong existing investment stewardship capabilities, as well as lay the foundation for growing and adding depth of expertise to our global stewardship team,” NTAM President, Daniel Gamba, said.

“With a renewed strategic focus on strengthening investment stewardship capabilities, NTAM is well-positioned to serve the long-term financial interests of our clients.”