LONDON, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Northern Trust Global Investments ("NTGI"), the investment management arm of Northern Trust, has partnered with Taiwan's First Taisec Capital Management ("First Taisec") to offer retail investors in Taiwan the opportunity to invest in a range of manager-of-managers funds.

First Taisec is a subsidiary of First Financial Holding Co. Ltd., one of Taiwan's largest financial services companies, and has been appointed as master agent to oversee the registration and distribution of the following five funds, which are part of Northern Trust's Dublin-domiciled, manager-of-managers fund range:

    1.  The NTMF UK Equity Fund
    2.  The NTMF Europe (ex-UK) Equity Fund
    3.  The NTMF Global Equity Fund
    4.  The NTMF US Equity Fund
    5.  The NTMF Japan Equity Fund

The funds will initially be available to investors in Taiwan through two of First Taisec's sister companies, First Commerical Bank and National Investment Trust Company, Ltd. (NITC), which currently have a network of over 220 branches across Taiwan. First Commercial Bank is a two-time "country award winner" for the best commercial banking performance in Taiwan in the 2006 and 2007 The Banker magazine awards.

"Taiwan is one of the largest offshore markets in Asia, and Taiwanese investors are increasingly interested in investing outside of Taiwan. We are excited to add Northern Trust's funds to our existing suite of overseas investment opportunities, which currently generates multi-billion US Dollars in sales," commented Mr. Josef Chiou, Chairman and President of First Taisec. "The concept of manager-of-managers is becoming better known in Taiwan, and Northern Trust will be the sole manager-of-managers funds sole provider on our platform."

Gregg Behrens, Head of Northern Trust's Asia-Pacific businesses, said, "We are delighted to have partnered with one of Taiwan's leading financial institutions as part of our strategy to continue to expand our investment management business in Asia. This partnership supports our objective of linking with high quality third parties to penetrate new international markets and new market segments."

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) is a leading provider of investment management, asset and fund administration, fiduciary and banking solutions for corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide. Northern Trust, a multibank holding company based in Chicago, has a growing network of 85 offices in 18 U.S. states and has international offices in 13 locations in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. As of September 30, 2007, Northern Trust had assets under custody of US$4.1 trillion, and assets under investment management of US$761.4 billion. Northern Trust, founded in 1889, has earned distinction as an industry leader in combining high-touch service and expertise with innovative products and technology. For more information, visit http://www.northerntrust.com.

Where Northern Trust's UK entities undertake regulated business then they are authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority.

About Northern Trust Global Investments

Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI) is a global, multi-asset class investment manager serving institutional and personal clients worldwide. With around US$761.4 billion in assets under management worldwide, as of 30th September 2007, NTGI offers a full array of active, passive and enhanced products, as well as manager-of-managers programmes for alternative and long -only investments. NTGI is one of the world's largest and fastest growing investment managers. NTGI brings together the resources of The Northern Trust Company, Northern Trust Investments, N.A., Northern Trust Global Investments Limited ("NTGIL"), Northern Trust Global Investments Japan, K.K., and Northern Trust Global Advisors, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Northern Trust Global Advisors Limited ("NTGAL") refers specifically to Northern Trust's manager-of-managers business in the United Kingdom.

NTGIL and NTGAL are United Kingdom entities which are authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority.

The Northern Trust Company (http://www.northerntrust.com) is the principal subsidiary of Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS).

Source: Northern Trust Corporation