Northern Trust names Beata Kirr as investment chief for global family office unit

Northern Trust Wealth Management has tapped Beata Kirr as chief investment officer of its Global Family Office division, the firm announced Monday.

Kirr steps into the role as family offices worldwide are rapidly evolving into more professionalized operations.

Knight Frank's 2026 Wealth Report, released last week, found that the number of family offices globally is approaching 10,000, growing at roughly 5% annually – faster than the global economy itself. The report also noted that these entities are increasingly moving beyond simple capital preservation, recruiting in-house specialists and targeting more complex, value-add investment strategies.

In her new role, Kirr will lead portfolio construction and deliver investment insights to the clients of Northern Trust's Global Family Office, which serves more than 550 families with an average net worth above $1 billion. The division is Northern Trust's fastest-growing segment within its wealth management business.

GFO President Dino De Vita cited the growing complexity of family office portfolios as central to the hire.

"Family offices today are navigating increasingly complex portfolios, private markets exposure and multigenerational planning challenges," De Vita said. "Beata brings a disciplined approach to asset allocation, manager selection and portfolio construction, grounded in years of advising sophisticated investors."

Kirr comes to Northern Trust from The Copia Group, a direct lending private credit firm, where she was managing director and chief impact officer. Before that, she spent 17 years at Bernstein Private Wealth Management, rising to co-chief investment officer and national managing director, where she expanded investment offerings and drove thought leadership. Earlier in her career, she held roles at Aurora (formerly Harris Alternatives) and Goldman Sachs.

In a statement, Kirr said she is "focused on delivering innovative solutions across asset classes" for Northern Trust's family office clients, describing those clients as being "on the forefront of evolving investment opportunities."

Her appointment is the latest in a string of senior leadership moves at Northern Trust Wealth Management. In December, the firm named Eric Freedman, formerly of US Bank, as chief investment officer of its broader private wealth business, replacing Katie Nixon, who had held that post since 2012 and moved into a regional leadership role overseeing the Northeast. The wealth management division held $497.6 billion in assets under management as of March 31.

The Kirr appointment also comes amid broader growth across the ultra-high-net-worth segment. Knight Frank's report found that the global population of individuals worth $30 million or more reached 713,626 in 2026, with 41% of newly minted members of that cohort based in the US – underscoring the scale of the domestic market that Northern Trust's family office division is targeting.

Read more: Bernstein Private Wealth is attracting more ultra-high-net-worth investors. Here’s why

Beyond her investment career, Kirr has served on multiple boards, including as an independent director and chair of the nominating and governance committee for Nomura's Active ETF Delaware Trust.

Kirr holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Northern Trust Corporation, the Chicago-based parent company founded in 1889, reported $18.6 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $1.8 trillion in assets under management as of March 31.