Northern Trust Corporation announced that it has been appointed by Bridgewater Associates to independently replicate certain middle and back-office services for its approximately $140 billion in assets under management, as part of Bridgewater's ongoing back office transformation plan. In a role that will create approximately 100 jobs in Chicago and Stamford, Conn., Northern Trust will provide broad middle-office and back-office services including replicating various administrative processing, trade processing, valuation, real-time reporting, cash management, accounting and collateral management services. These services will be furnished by Northern Trust independently, as well as mirroring and quality checking middle and back-office services provided by another firm.

Northern Trust's independent review and validation of results will provide Bridgewater Associates and its investors an enhanced level of oversight and controls with respect to fund administration and middle and back-office functions. The arrangement is planned to go live in 2014.