A new senior hire yesterday by the Massachusetts office of Chicago-based private wealth, banking and asset management firm, Northern Trust, ...

A new senior hire yesterday by the Massachusetts office of Chicago-based private wealth, banking and asset management firm, Northern Trust, signified the group’s ambition to grow its presence in the north-east of the country.

This at a time when the firm’s major competitors in the north-east have been involved in merger and acquisition activity.

Lee Woolley, president of Northern Trust in Massachusetts said, turmoil resulting from recent acquisitions could open the door for the firm to access new clients in the region which is made up of states including Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.

Significant mergers have been forged recently including the Bank of America’s acquisition of US Trust Corporation from the Charles Schwab Corporation; and most recently, the Bank of New York Company’s merger with Mellon Financial Corporation.

“There is likely to be a lot of money in motion in the region which has one of the most appealing demographics in the country,” said Mr Woolley.

Northern Trust yesterday appointed former Smith Barney private client lending specialist, Penny Weeks, to the role of senior private banker based in Boston.

Of the opportunity to expand in the region which is not traditionally the firm’s strongest presence, Mr Woolley told WealthBriefing: “Any time there is M&A activity, employers of both firms can be thinking about things like job security and compensation, which is a distraction to the main task which is servicing customers.”

Northern Trust has 84 offices in 18 US states, 13 international offices in 13 locations in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region with assets under investment management of $667 billion.