Northern Trust has launched a machine learning-powered document capture capability as the foundation of a multi-year investment to digitise alternative asset servicing.
The initiative is set to enhance the experience for asset owner clients that invest in complex private markets and unlisted assets.
Digital document capture enables Northern Trust to streamline historically manual workflows by automating the receipt and processing of alternative asset documents and fund manager reports on holdings and performance of hedge funds, private equity and other alternative assets.
Northern Trust explains that its proprietary solution combines robotic process automation and cloud-based technology to provide transparency and data standardisation that enables greater understanding of portfolio risk and performance.
The intelligent document capture solution deploys custom-built robotic process automation that enables self-service operations to collect documents from emails, whether in the form of download link or within the email text.
Documents are stored on a cloud-based drive where intelligent tools extract identifying details such as the type of document and the name of the fund company, tasks previously performed manually.
Automated document capture enables Northern Trust’s alternative asset servicing teams to focus on more strategic aspects of the process and reduces the need for manual intervention when coordinating saving, storage and categorisation.
Pete Cherecwich, president of corporate and institutional services at Northern Trust, comments: “As alternative asset classes continue to grow in importance to institutional investors, Northern Trust is committed to driving efficiency and reducing operational risk through the use of emerging technologies.”
Cherecwich adds: “Digital document capture is a huge step forward, and only the start of our larger plan to enhance alternative asset servicing for the benefit of our clients.”
The proprietary document capture tool is the first in a series of releases supporting Northern Trust’s strategy to harness emerging technologies to digitise alternative asset servicing, a growing sector of its asset servicing business.
Last month, Northern Trust was appointed to provide fund accounting, transfer agency and global custody services to Fundsmith’s Luxembourg-domiciled umbrella, Fundsmith SICAV.
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