These firms believe the company is in a sound position to benefit from some strong long-term demographic trends, and in the short term, the company is expected to benefit from a below average credit risk profile, strong capital levels and experienced management. For 2011, these firms expect new business trends to remain positive, particularly outside the U.S. given the improvement shown by the outsourcing business. However, there are challenges that include lack of visibility in the capital markets and economic conditions, the transition of the securities lending business, and the potential normalization of foreign exchange volatility, which could obscure the near-term outlook. Northern Trust is positioned well to regain earnings momentum. While the firms believe Northern Trust retains substantial leverage to eventually higher short-term rates and new business trends remain positive, given the still-challenging revenue growth outlook over the coming quarters, they maintained a neutral stance. Indeed, over the near term, these firms foresee investors’ concern about the company’s organic growth prospects, given the difficulty of turning new business wins into top-line growth, and as a result valuation premium relative to the other trust banks could narrow.