Northern Trust Asset Management (NTAM) has announced that Michael Hunstad, head of quantitative strategies since 2018, is expanding his management responsibilities to include index equity and tax-advantaged equity teams. Concurrently, Hunstad has been appointed a member of the firm’s executive group.

“Mike’s skill in efficient portfolio construction and risk management make him extremely well suited to foster even deeper collaboration among the three teams, thereby creating greater overall operational efficiencies,” Northern Trust chief investment officer Angelo Manioudakis says. “Combining these three disciplines under Mike’s proven leadership will foster even greater innovation to deliver solutions tailored to the evolving needs of today’s investors.”

Since Hunstad led the quantitative strategies team, it has grown from US$14 billion to US$36.9 billion in equity assets under management, as of December 31 2021, NTAM says.

Over the past two decades, the firm’s index equity and tax-advantaged equity strategies have grown to US$608 billion and US$90.4 billion, respectively, as of December 31 2021. “NTAM views all three investment strategies as prime for continued growth given our expertise and strong investor interest in factor-based, quantitative investing,” Manioudakis says.

Hunstad holds a doctorate degree in mathematics from the Illinois Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in econometrics from the University of Illinois, Chicago, an MBA in finance from Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management, and a bachelor's degree in economics from Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota.