Northern Trust has added liability benchmarking to its Investment Risk & Analytical Services product offering for custody clients on a global basis. The customised benchmarks allow plan sponsors to more accurately gauge the performance of a liability-driven investment programme by measuring a plan’s assets against the fair market value of its obligations over a period of time. Liability benchmarks are an alternative to standard market indexes, which represent a collection of securities that are used to evaluate the performance of traditional investment strategies. Northern Trust’s liability benchmarks are customised to each client’s unique cash flow profile, which is obtained from the client or the plan’s actuary. This service also provides the client with flexible modelling options, such as the selection of an appropriate discount curve or multiple cash flow profile scenarios. Using the custom benchmark, plan sponsors can match the performance of actual assets versus liabilities and evaluate the impact of an LDI strategy on the plan’s surplus or deficit.