Northern Trust has opened an office in the Philippines. The Manila office will support processing and back-office functions for Northern Trust’s global clients.

This is Northern Trust’s third Asia-Pacific office established this year and supports its growing international business across the region.

“The Philippines is a thriving country with a growing pool of talented, educated individuals,” said Northern Trust Chairman and CEO Frederick H Waddell. “We are pleased to establish our office in Manila, expanding our global operating centers of excellence and offering our clients increased support in their time zone.”

“With employees worldwide dedicated to working on leading-edge technology and operations, and investment of $2.2bn dollars on a rolling two-year period, we continue to invest in our technology and infrastructure," said Brian Ovaert, head of operations for Northern Trust in Asia-Pacific.

Paula Kenee has been appointed as country head, the Philippines. Kenee joined Northern Trust in 1994 and, prior to her new role, was most recently chief operations officer for Northern Trust Asset Management across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing global region for Northern Trust, with assets under custody growing at an annual rate of 25% from 2008 through 2013, according to the company and assets under management growing by more than 15% annually over that five-year period.