Northern Trust hires former auction house chief to lead advisor relationships

Northern Trust Wealth Management is doubling down on the art and collectibles space with the appointment of Alyssa Quinlan as head of advisor relationships and strategic partnerships, a newly elevated role that sits at the intersection of private banking, estate planning and the booming market for “passion” assets.

Quinlan, who will report to global head of sales David Albright, will oversee Northern Trust’s relationships with outside professionals including law and accounting firms, business advisory shops and investment consultants.

The firm said those advisor ties are increasingly tied to client needs around fine art and collectibles, as wealthy families look to integrate trophy assets into their broader wealth, tax and estate plans.

“Our clients rely on a network of trusted advisors, and those relationships are central to delivering sophisticated advice,” Albright said in a statement Tuesday.

He said Quinlan’s arrival is meant to strengthen Northern Trust’s advisor engagement strategy and further integrate guidance on unique assets such as valuation, liquidity planning, and estate and legacy strategies.

Read more: How one top advisor is building connections with collectibles

Northern Trust already has a long history of handling nontraditional assets through its wealth planning and fiduciary services. Quinlan’s mandate includes building a dedicated platform for collectors and families with significant art holdings, aimed at addressing what the firm describes as increasingly sophisticated demands around collection management, intergenerational transfers and potential sales.

Quinlan brings 25 years of experience across wealth management, private banking and fine art. She most recently served as CEO of Freeman’s Auctions & Appraisals, where she oversaw operations, led growth initiatives and steered a major merger integration. Before that, she launched and ran the Chicago office of art advisory and appraisal group Gurr Johns.

Earlier in her career, Quinlan held leadership roles at JPMorgan Chase, BMO Private Bank and Smith Barney/Citigroup Asset Management, and served in senior posts at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers and Peterson Consulting.

She is active in several Chicago business and civic groups, including YPO, The Economic Club of Chicago, The Chicago Network and the Chicago Estate Planning Council, and supports arts institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Luminarts Cultural Foundation and the Women’s Board of Ravinia.

The move lands as the upper tier of the art and collectibles market shows renewed strength after two years of cooling. Auction sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips in the US climbed 23% to $3.17 billion in 2025, according to a Bank of America Private Bank report earlier this month, driven largely by major estates and blue-chip works returning to market.

Drew Watson, head of art services at Bank of America, said that 2025 marked “not a return to speculation, but a return to discipline,” with collectors focusing on quality, provenance and long-term significance.

Citing those same three auction houses, a more recent pulse check by CNBC found art sales in London topped $550 million during the first week of March, marking a 50% rise from the same period last year. 

“It’s a perfect moment where there is a greater supply of great material, and there is also an extraordinarily hungry buyer class,” Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s lead auctioneer and chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, told the news outlet. “We’re seeing not only the depth of bidding that we’ve not experienced recently, but a much, much deeper depth of quality material.”