In what has to be the biggest jobs boost for Limerick since Dell closed down its manufacturing operations four years ago, the city is to receive 400 new jobs over the next five years as financial services player Northern Trust expands its operations.
The IDA-supported investment will see a variety of new roles created. These include traditional and hedge fund accounting, transfer agency, financial reporting, pricing, custody, private equity, alternative asset administration, client reporting, real estate administration, as well as roles supporting employee functions, such as finance, information technology, human resources and training, and corporate services.
Northern Trust has had a presence in Ireland since 1989 and opened its Dublin office in 2000. To facilitate the expansion of Northern Trust in Ireland, Limerick was chosen in 2006 as the second Irish location for its fund administration business, which to date employs more than 300 people and is based at Hamilton House, on the National Technology Park.
Northern Trust Corporation, founded in Chicago in 1889, is one of the world’s leading financial services institutions. It provides investment management, asset and fund administration, banking and fiduciary services to corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide.
Centre of excellence
“Limerick is a fund administration centre of excellence for Northern Trust supporting organisations such as leading alternative, multi-manager and traditional investment managers, pension funds, multinationals, insurance companies and not-for-profit organisations,” said Catherine Duffy, general manager for Northern Trust’s Limerick office.
“We recently expanded our Limerick office and are currently recruiting high-calibre graduates from the local universities and colleges, such as University of Limerick and the Limerick Institute of Technology, with which we have strong relationships, as well as experienced professionals from across the globe.”
Welcoming the announcement, Ireland’s Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, TD, said, “The significant expansion by Northern Trust of their Limerick offices, which will deliver 400 high-quality jobs, is excellent news for Limerick and I would like to wish all involved every success in the future.”
IDA Ireland CEO Barry O’Leary said the Northern Trust investment strengthens Ireland’s reputation and specifically the mid-west region as a location of choice for highly skilled financial services operations.
“It underlines Ireland’s continuing success in attracting high-calibre investments from world-leading financial services companies and builds on Ireland’s standing as the funds centre of Europe.
“The scale of the investment in a key gateway location is a strategic win for IDA Ireland and it demonstrates the confidence a global leader such as Northern Trust has in Ireland’s skills availability and business infrastructure,” O’Leary added.
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