Northern Trust expands its Asia-Pacific business by opening a new representative office in Malaysia.

Northern Trust, the Chicago-based international investment management firm, has extended its Asia-Pacific business with the opening of a representative office in Malaysia.

The new office, located in Kuala Lumpur, is led by Ariani Rustam as chief representative. Rustam joins from Bank Negara Malaysia, the country's central bank, where she served for 12 years, most recently served as manager of the external fund management division. In such role, she led the introduction of new asset classes to diversify the investment of the bank's reserves. 

"Malaysia is a dynamic country with a growing economy and increasing global investment, presenting an opportunity for growth in the services that we offer to large, sophisticated institutional investors," said William Morrison, president and chief operating officer of Northern Trust.

The Malaysia office will play a key role in the company's Asia-Pacific strategy. From 2008 to 2013, Asia-Pac assets under custody grew 26 per cent annually, while assets under management expanded 15 per cent. As at 31 December 2013, AuC was at $448.6 billion, while AuM was at $64.2 billion. Northern Trust has provided services to Malaysian clients since 2009, leveraging its model with centres in Singapore, Bangalore, London and Chicago.