Northern Trust’s Thomas Sees More Consolidation for Fund Firms
Northern Trust’s Thomas Sees More Consolidation for Fund Firms
(Bloomberg) -- The asset management business will further consolidate through mergers and acquisitions and by the biggest companies taking ever-greater shares of the market, according to Shundrawn Thomas, president of Northern Trust Asset Management.
“Much of the consolidation I actually expect to see is happening organically,” said Thomas, who spoke Wednesday at the Bloomberg Invest Global virtual event. “The proverbial winners have gotten larger.”
Northern Trust is one of the largest factor-based investors in the world, with about $914 billion in assets. The portfolio is almost evenly divided between equities and fixed income, with more than half invested passively, and a majority of its clients are institutional investors.
Thomas joined Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp. in 2004 from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., where he worked in the equities division overseeing a sales team. Savoy magazine named him one of the most influential Black executives in corporate America this year.
Thomas also said there’s better criteria for meeting sustainable investment goals in portfolios.
He also believes this moment for racial equality is a movement, and that meeting diversity goals starts at the top of companies. Nine members of his firm’s executive team are either women or people of color, he said.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.