By allocating your assets across investment classes, the volatility of your portfolio can be reduced. Securities are selected through a disciplined process incorporating sophisticated quantitative (data) analysis and the qualitative judgment of senior investment professionals.

Equity Selection Process

Fixed-Income Selection Process

Short-Term Asset Management Selection Process

Equity Selection Process
Northern Trust's approach to equity investing focuses on high-quality investments identified as having potential for above-average growth over a three- to five-year time horizon. We consider equities as the wealth-building portion of your portfolio and choose issues that we believe will result in superior returns.

We believe over time, quality-growth stock investing represents the highest likelihood of consistently strong returns. Stocks are identified through an organized, disciplined process that is complemented by the informed judgments of our senior portfolio managers and research analysts. Publicly traded companies are screened carefully to reveal a select group that meets exacting standards. Initial selection criteria include:

• Growth in earnings per share
• Consistency of growth in earnings per share
• Sales or revenue growth per share
• Return on shareholders' equity
• Debt as a percentage of total capital

Though many issues may meet certain minimum standards, only a select number are judged by our analysts to merit further consideration for inclusion in client portfolios. These are examined carefully against historical criteria as well as supplementary data that includes current balance sheets, overall financial strength, and the ability to support future growth.

Ultimately, our decisions are based on historical data, future projections, and the qualitative analysis of Northern's senior portfolio managers and equity research staff, whose years of experience and current knowledge of the investment environment are the key components in evaluating issues under consideration.

Fixed-Income Selection Process
Your portfolio is structured based upon available market data and interest rate outlooks. Maturity weighting, sector concentration, credit quality, tax brackets and geographic diversification are considered when creating your fixed-income profile.

The Northern Trust research staff conducts an ongoing review of domestic and international fixed-income securities to uncover the best opportunities for your portfolio.

Purchases are concentrated on investment grade securities. Credit analysts continually review the creditworthiness of debt issues to spot quality trends in advance of rating agency actions.

Short-Term Asset Management Selection Process

• A personalized portfolio is designed to address your liquidity needs, risk tolerance, and tax situation. It is not a mutual or pooled investment fund.
• Your portfolio is constructed from the full range of short-term fixed income securities with maturities from one day to two years.
• Your portfolio manager will review holdings against changing market conditions and security characteristics as indicated in your portfolio guidelines.

		Get in Touch
		Contact us to find out more about investments.

		Learn More
		Review elements of our disciplined approach: Investment Objective & Strategy Asset Class Allocation Research Capabilities Portfolio Management Process