Northern Trust?

I am a sophomore and have the opportunity to intern for Northern Trust (personal contact w/ a VP). I am looking to get (hopefully) an internship in I-banking next summer and am wondering what division of Northern Trust would be the most pertinent and beneficial to intern for?

21 Comments
 

There are few better names in the PWM world than Northern Trust. So if it's possible, I'd aim towards Private Wealth Management or Commercial Banking. Treasury Solutions could also be good if you plan on doing trading- these guys basically run a huge money market fund and are on the other side of the phone from the short-term fixed income securities trading desks on Wall Street.

The bank sorta sets the standard for stuffy, conservative professionalism dealing with an upscale clientele. It is a good place to intern, but not a good place to start a career. Part of the stuffy conservativism means the firm does not take any risks whatsoever, and you are locked into a career track where it's hard to advance until you've got a certain amount of gray hair. But they do a very good job of taking care of clients.

 
IlliniProgrammerThere are few better names in the PWM world than Northern Trust. So if it's possible, I'd aim towards Private Wealth Management or Commercial Banking. Treasury Solutions could also be good if you plan on doing trading- these guys basically run a huge money market fund and are on the other side of the phone from the short-term fixed income securities trading desks on Wall Street.

The bank sorta sets the standard for stuffy, conservative professionalism dealing with an upscale clientele. It is a good place to intern, but not a good place to start a career. Part of the stuffy conservativism means the firm does not take any risks whatsoever, and you are locked into a career track where it's hard to advance until you've got a certain amount of gray hair. But they do a very good job of taking care of clients.

And they pay like shit.

 
chitownanalyst
IlliniProgrammerThere are few better names in the PWM world than Northern Trust. So if it's possible, I'd aim towards Private Wealth Management or Commercial Banking. Treasury Solutions could also be good if you plan on doing trading- these guys basically run a huge money market fund and are on the other side of the phone from the short-term fixed income securities trading desks on Wall Street.

The bank sorta sets the standard for stuffy, conservative professionalism dealing with an upscale clientele. It is a good place to intern, but not a good place to start a career. Part of the stuffy conservativism means the firm does not take any risks whatsoever, and you are locked into a career track where it's hard to advance until you've got a certain amount of gray hair. But they do a very good job of taking care of clients.

And they pay like shit.

pay was low but the network and hours were great..

 

Monty09,

I currently have an interview setup for the Associate PM at Northern Trust. Could I please pick your brain regarding the day to day tasks and possibly some interview prep? I am a new member so it does not allow me to personal message for 2 days I guess.

Thank You!!

Alex
 

I did my soph internship with them and transitioned that into a bb ib internship the following summer. can't definitively say it's the best group in terms of transferable skills, but i was in global investments (NTGI). it's more about how you craft your story. best of luck.

 
Best Response

Notwithstanding the fact that they are a normal bank with normal bank lending, deposits, etc., Northern Trust's services are marketed to two types of customers - High Net Worth individuals and Institutions (Personal Financial Services and Institutional Services). These customers are provided with three basic types of service (now we're on a 2 x 3 matrix, following me?). They are: Asset Management (or PWM), Asset servicing (custody), and Banking and Treasury services. Not sure exactly how every box works in detail, but that's the basic idea. Custody, if you don't know, is the safekeeping of securities, as opposed to cash. Northern will hold a lot of the securities that are owned by a huge pension fund, say. They'll do all the annoying stuff that needs to be done as a result of owning them, they'll occasionally lend them out (as banks lend out cash deposits) to someone wishing to short the shares, or to market makers. On the personal side, they administer a lot of trusts (hence the name) and personal estate holdings. This should get you started on a good conversation. Act like you learned all this from reading the website, ask your contact to fill in the blanks when you meet and you'll be fine.

 

When you guys say pay was low, how low? As in more normal $35-40k out of college job?

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Ah okay, so low as far as WSO is concerned.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

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