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- Who We Serve
- What We Do
- About Us
- Insights & Research
The Outsourced Trading Desk
Outsourced trading to optimize performance from trade execution to settlement

Stay ahead of the unprecedented pressures falling on buy-side trading desks by building an efficient, cost-effective and compliant execution solution.
Investment managers are at a tipping point, faced with structural pressures from multiple sources: rising costs, lower fees, increasing regulation and mounting compliance costs, rapid technology change and more.
Northern Trust’s Integrated Trading Solution – brought to you by Northern Trust Securities Australia Pty Ltd - helps asset owners and asset managers alleviate some of these pressures by outsourcing the trade lifecycle. It is an opportunity to meaningfully lower costs, reduce risk, manage regulatory compliance and enhance transparency and operational efficiency.
By outsourcing trade execution, managers can focus on their core capabilities, their value proposition and their clients, which positions them to compete more effectively in the battle for alpha.
Agency-only execution
Northern Trust Securities Australia Pty Ltd (NTSA) is an agency-only broker, acting only on instructions received from clients. NTSA does not engage in proprietary trading, portfolio management or advice, corporate finance, or investment banking.
Depth of trading expertise
Our expert teams in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific – the three key trading regions - offer over 200 years of combined buy and sell-side trading experience across large, mid, small cap, program trading and emerging/frontier markets.
Access to greater liquidity
Our market position as an agency-only broker-dealer within a custody bank means we are able to offer clients access to more than 80 markets and dozens of pools of liquidity around the world.
Technology
We are investing in solutions that meet the execution needs of our clients. Our Straight-Through-Processing architecture integrates data flows through front, middle and back office systems – reducing the need for manual intervention and creating operational efficiencies.
Regulatory Oversight
Our independent Compliance team is embedded in our business, to provide oversight, advisory, monitoring, surveillance and reporting activities.
Best Execution
Best Execution matters and we offer a comprehensive reporting and analytics solution to help clients demonstrate execution performance and satisfy their regulatory reporting obligations.
Multi-asset class and instrument coverage
We execute equities, fixed income, currencies, options, ETFs and AIM stocks across 80+ markets and 31 trading venues.
RTS 28 Reports
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2022
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2022 - Top Five Execution Venues
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2022 - Top Five Order Transmission Destinations
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2021
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2021 - Top Five Execution Venues
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2021 - Top Five Order Transmission Destinations
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2020
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2020 - Top Five Execution Venues
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2020 – Top Five Order Transmission Destinations
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2019
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2019 - Top Five Execution Venues
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2019 – Top Five Order Transmission Destinations
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2018
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2018 – Top Five Execution Venues
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2018 – Top Five Order Transmission Destinations
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2017
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2017 – Top Five Execution Venues
- Northern Trust Capital Markets: Brokerage RTS 28 Report 2017 – Top Five Order Transmission Destinations
Client Documentation
Trends in Asset Servicing
November 16, 2023
Identifying and mitigating conflicts of interest is a fundamental ongoing regulatory obligation of asset managers and asset owners, for themselves and on behalf of the clients for whom they manage assets. In this article Gerard Walsh, Northern Trust’s Global Head of Capital Markets Client Solutions considers agency trading in the context of conflicts of interest.
November 9, 2023
While the transition to T+1 will offer benefits to investors; it also presents potential challenges as the settlement cycle tightens.
September 14, 2023
In an evolving landscape, asset managers are seeking outsourcing partners that can provide strength and stability.
This material is directed to professional clients only and is not intended for retail clients. For Asia-Pacific markets, it is directed to institutional investors, expert investors and professional investors only and should not be relied upon by retail investors.
Issued in the United Kingdom by Northern Trust Securities LLP.
© 2023 Northern Trust Corporation. Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A. Incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Products and services provided by subsidiaries of Northern Trust Corporation may vary in different markets and are offered in accordance with local regulation. For more information, read our legal and regulatory information about individual market offices. This material is directed to professional clients only and is not intended for retail clients. For Asia-Pacific markets, it is directed to expert, institutional, professional or wholesale clients or investors only and should not be relied upon by retail clients or investors. Issued in the United Kingdom by Northern Trust Securities LLP and in Australia by Northern Trust Securities Australia Pty Ltd.