Northern Trust

Northern Trust is a global leader in delivering innovative investment management, asset and fund administration, and fiduciary and banking solutions to corporations, institutions, and affluent individuals. They have evolved with the changing needs of their clients and their world.

1889: Byron L. Smith collected about $1 million from leading Chicago businessmen, including Marshall Field and Philip D. Armour, to start a banking enterprise. As the demand from wealthy Chicagoans for his services increased, he decided to open a new type of bank.

1893: Despite the panic in the financial industry due to bank closures and industrial insolvencies across the United States, which, in turn, led to a general economic decline for several years, Northern's fortunes continued to improve. During the 1893 Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Columbus in the new world, Congress authorized another Chicago bank to open a branch on the fairgrounds.

1895: Deposits totalled $10.5 million.

1896: Declaring its first dividend in July, Northern began to grow rapidly.

1906: Northern Trust had grown from a single room into a flourishing organization, and moved into a permanent home at 50 South La Salle Street.

1912: Since its founding, the bank had only made collateral loans, but now aware that this policy stymied growth, the board of directors approved Northern's purchase of commercial paper.

1914: In March, Byron Laflin Smith died and his son, Solomon Albert Smith, took over the bank.

1917: When the United States finally entered the war in 1917, Northern acted as a depository for the Alien Property Custodian Act and held over $500 million in enemy assets.

1922: But the "Roaring Twenties" was in full swing, a time when public confidence in the economy was at its highest, and throughout the nation, investors were enticed into highly speculative markets.

1933: Two days after his inauguration on March 6, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt closed all the banks in the United States.

1945: The war created more opportunities for the bank; all sectors of its business expanded, and by this year the Northern Trust had doubled in size.

1963: In October, Solomon A. Smith died.

1969: In the 1960s, our clients began to develop business interests outside the United States. Therefore, Northern Trust opened a London office, making us the first Illinois-chartered financial institution to open a branch outside the United States this year.

1971: The bank created a holding corporation, the Northern Trust Corporation, for the purpose of future expansion within the state of Illinois. The company was founded and is headquartered in Chicago, IL. Northern acquired Security Trust Company, located in Miami, Florida. 

1974: The United States Congress passed the Employee Retirement and Income Security Act.

1979: Edward Byron Smith retired as chief executive officer.

1981: When the state finally permitted Illinois banks to acquire banks in Cook and the surrounding counties, Northern immediately took advantage of the law and acquired O'Hare International Bank in Park Ridge, First Security Bank in Oakbrook, and First National Bank of Lake Forest.

1982: Many wealthy families and individuals were using family offices. Northern expanded its services in the state of Florida from trust operations to include a full range of financial services.

1984: Weston Christopherson, the former CEO of Jewel, took the helm.

1986: The bank acquired First Lake Forest Corporation for $61 million in cash.

1988: A trust subsidiary was created with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara, California.

1989: The acquisition of Concorde Bank in Dallas, Texas, provided Northern with access to business opportunities in one more state.

1990: The bank administered trust assets worth over $5 billion in South Florida alone. At the time of his retirement in 1990, the company was the 11th most profitable of the 100 largest banks in the United States. In 1990, company veteran David W. Fox became the seventh CEO of the company.

1993: By the end of the year, the bank has plans for forty-three offices in five states.

2005: In July, Northern Trust and Enron reached a $365 million settlement with 20,000 employees of Enron after the energy company's collapse (see Enron scandal). Northern Trust had managed the 401k plan for Enron's employees, who alleged mismanagement and breach of fiduciary duty.

2009: Northern Trust was one of 3 banks able to gain large profits. The company had been criticized for heavy spending on parties during a golf tournament that it sponsored, after receiving government funds.

2014: In the 10 years preceding 2014, the company gave over $120 million in support of non-profit organizations.

2017: On October 2, Northern Trust acquired UBS Asset Management's fund administration servicing units in Switzerland and Luxembourg.

2018: Effective January 1, Michael O'Grady became chief executive officer of the company.

2019: Michael O'Grady also assumed the chairmanship on January 23.

“To start the next best thing and achieve something greater.”

“We strive to be our client's most trusted partner and to lead as socially responsible members of our global communities. We earn this trust by staying true to our fiduciary heritage and providing differentiated, exceptional service and leading capabilities tailored to each client's specific needs.”