Ben Brownette will join Northern Trust's Sydney office as the first hire in the region since the acquisition of Aviate Global in May 2016.
Mr Brownette makes the move from the Commonwealth Bank where he spent close to seven years in institutional equities.
Before that, he spent three years at an independent equities house that was later acquired by Morningstar.
Northern Trust Capital Markets' Asia regional manager Rob Arnott said Mr Brownette's "award-winning" expertise and market knowledge would be of great value.
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