In his new role Mr Browne is based at Northern Trust’s Chicago headquarters and reports directly to Stephen Potter, president of Northern Trust Global Investments.

Mr Browne joined Northern Trust from ING Investment Management in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was most recently chief investment officer for fixed income and proprietary investments. 

Prior to joining ING in 2004, he had also been managing director and co-head of North American fixed income teams at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, along with holding senior fixed income portfolio manager positions at JP Morgan in Japan and the UK.

“With his background in global investment management, Bob combines a relentless focus on performance with excellence in risk management that will serve our institutional and personal investors well,” said Mr Potter.

Founded in 1889, Northern Trust has a network of 85 offices in 18 US states, along with international offices in 15 locations across North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

As of 31 December, 2008, Northern Trust had assets under custody of $3.0 trillion, and assets under investment management of $575.5 billion.