The first half of 2013 proved bright for Australia’s custodians. The Australian Custodial Services Association (ACSA) released its half yearly industry statistics, showing continued growth in Australia’s custodian and administration sector.
The first half of 2013 proved bright for Australia’s custodians. The Australian Custodial Services Association (ACSA) released its half yearly industry statistics, showing continued growth in Australia’s custodian and administration sector.
The latest research from ACSA—the industry body for Australia’s custody and asset administration sector—revealed total assets under custody for Australian investors grew by 6.7 percent to $2.16 trillion for the first half of the year to 30 June 2013.
Every major player in the custody market saw an increase in assets under custody during the six months, largely driven by a rising global and local market.
Helped by the falling Australian dollar and rising global equity markets, the period also saw continued strong growth for non-Australian assets under custody for Australian investors (up 10.2 percent to just over $600 billion), with Australian assets under custody for Australian investors also rising strongly (up 5.5 percent to $1.56 trillion).
Australian assets under custody for foreign clients (sub custody) rose only 0.1 percent; reflecting slowing foreign appetite for Australian assets as the commodity boom slowed and interest rates were cut to historic lows. The statistics largely reflect Australia’s growing superannuation and institutional investment base.
Player breakdown
Local player NAB Asset Servicing retained its position as the largest overall player with $556 billion in total assets under custody for Australian investors (up 2.2 percent for the six months), followed by J.P. Morgan ($394 billion, up 5 percent) and BNP Paribas ($313 billion, up 5.7 percent).
National Australia Bank’s asset servicing business was recently re-appointed to provide custodial services to fund manager client UBS Global Asset Management in Australia for a further three years.
In June, the Australian Bank and BNY Mellon announced that they would strengthen a 20-year alliance and offer additional support to customers of both firms, as well as the opportunity to introduce an expanded suite of products and services. BNY Mellon is NAB’s primary global custodian for offshore assets, and NAB is BNY Mellon’s primary sub-custodian for Australian and New Zealand assets.
Citigroup recorded a 21 percent increase in total assets under custody to $213 billion, reaching 10 percent in market share.
The other big mover over the past six months was Bond Street, with asset growth up 31 percent to $63.7 billion.
Total local assets held under custody increased by 5.5 percent over the past six months with NAB Asset Servicing, BNP Paribas and J.P. Morgan the leading holders of Australian assets under custody.
J.P. Morgan remains the largest custodian of non-Australian assets for Australian investors ($137 billion, up 25.8 percent), followed by State Street ($87 billion, up 2.8 percent) and NAB Asset Servicing ($86 billion, up 15.8 percent).
HSBC Bank remains the dominant sub-custodian in Australia with $576 billion in sub-custody assets.
Assets held under administration, rather than held in custody, were up 14.5 percent to $245 billion. BNP Paribas took top spot as the largest administrator in Australia with $407 billion in assets under administration, followed by NAB Asset Servicing ($369 billion) and State Street ($208 billion).
