When we talk about the winners to emerge in the financial crisis, people tend to focus in on JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM). But there have been other banks that have thrived through the turmoil. Northern Trust, for example, was one of only two banks in the S&P 500 index not to cut its dividend last year, and it was able to avoid the big losses that plagued so many others.

Fortune notes that the bank jumped two spots in its 2010 World's Most Admired Companies survey to No. 1 in its category for the first time. It has soared by sticking to its niche: Serving high net worth clients, a market segment that most top banks are bent on growing.

By staying independent, and out of any financial supermarket, Northern Trust has been able to avoid a lot of distractions and focus on what it does best. In the first quarter, new referrals, a key metric in the industry, jumped 30 percent--the most since the early 1990s. Some wealthy families may be seeking a return to traditional service.

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