Northern Trust Names Carl Tannenbaum Chief Economist

Since 2008, Tannenbaum, 52, has served as senior vice president and head of the Risk Division at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Previously, he was chief economist and head of balance sheet management at LaSalle Bank/ABN AMRO. He began LaSalle Bank’s economic unit in 1985, and has been a frequent speaker on economic and risk topics.

As head of Northern Trust’s global economic research function, Tannenbaum will monitor economic and political developments worldwide, forecast major economic indicators and communicate his views to colleagues and clients. Tannenbaum’s first commentary as the firm’s chief economist is here. He will report to Chief Credit Officer Mark J. Van Grinsven.

“We are pleased to welcome Carl to Northern Trust to direct our economic research and provide his insights into today’s challenging economic and business conditions,” said Frederick H. Waddell, Northern Trust chairman and chief executive. “We look forward to sharing Carl’s economic commentaries and expert opinion on the global economy with our clients and other stakeholders.”

At the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, Tannenbaum helped develop responses to the recent financial crisis. He managed a team diagnosing financial risk, its implication for the broad economy and policy choices to address it. He served as the head of the entire Federal Reserve System’s risk group in Washington for a year that ended in March, working closely with Federal Reserve System Governors and senior officials.  

Carl is an expert on economic policy, financial markets and risk management. He has developed processes to monitor these subjects in both in the public and private sectors, becoming a key participant in the Federal Reserve’s annual stress tests for the banking system.      

He received a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics, and a master’s of business administration from the University of Chicago. He is a past chairman of the Conference of Business Economists and a past president of the National Association for Business Economics, the North American Asset/Liability Management Association, and the Bank Administration Institute’s Treasury Commission. 

He succeeds Paul Kasriel, who retired from Northern Trust earlier this year.