BNY Mellon saw record breaking levels of assets under custody and/or administration in Q1 2017, reaching a total of $30.6 trillion.
The record high reflects a 5 percent increase on assets under custody and/or administration in Q1 2016, which reached $29.1 trillion, and a 2 percent increase on the figure for Q4 2016, which reached just shy of $30 trillion.
New custody business for Q1 2017 reached a preliminary total of $109 million. Although this is down on the previous quarter, which saw new custody business of $141 million, it is a significant increase on Q1 2016, in which new custody business totalled $40 million.
BNY Mellon also saw an increase in assets under management (AUM) for Q1 2017, ending the quarter with a preliminary balance of $1.73 billion. This is a 5 percent increase on Q4 2016’s total of $1.65 billion, and also about a 5 percent increase on Q1 2016, which ended with a total AUM of $1.64 billion.
Asset servicing fees for Q1 2017 reached $1.06 billion, a marginal decrease on the $1.07 billion seen in the previous quarter.
However, this is a 2 percent increase on Q1 2016, which saw asset servicing fees totalling $1.04 billion.
The asset servicing fees include securities lending revenues of $49 million, a decline from the previous quarter’s revenue of $54 million, and also a marginal decrease on Q1 2016, which saw securities lending revenue of $50 million.
In total, investment services fees totalled $1.829 billion, a 3 percent increase on $1.774 billion earned in Q4 2016. This is also a 4 percent increase on the total investment services fees recorded in Q1 2016, which totalled $1.765.
According to BNY Mellon, the increases reflect net new business, including growth of its collateral optimisation solutions. The results are also partially attributed to higher money market fees, net new business and higher equity market values.
They are partially offset, however, by the unfavourable impact of a stronger US dollar and the effect of BNY Mellon downsizing its retail UK transfer agency business, the bank said.
Gerald Hassell, chairman and CEO of BNY Mellon, said: “Our performance in the quarter benefited from our investments in capabilities that address growing client demands in areas such as collateral optimisation for both the buy and sell side and middle-office services for asset managers.”
“In addition, our overall asset management flows improved to their highest levels since 2014 and assets under custody and/or administration hit a record level.”
He added: “The progress we are making in digitising our firm and harnessing emerging technologies should result in an increasingly distinctive client experience, new sources of value for our clients and reduced structural costs for our company. We see ourselves as being an investments platform company that integrates the best of what we and others have to offer for the benefit of our clients and the marketplace.”
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