Custody assets drop 7.7%

Assets under custody in Australia have declined 7.7% to $3.75 trillion over the six months to 30 June, 2020, according to Australian Custodial Services Association (ACSA) data. 

ACSA said the fall in assets was largely a result of market valuation impacts and the spike in transactions reflected the level of activity by underlying institutions adjusting their portfolios in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

State Street had the largest decline in assets, down 20.8% to $405.2 billion, followed by a 10.2% decline for HSBC Bank to $179.8 billion, and a 9.3% decline for BNP Paribas to $463.3 billion. 

Only Netwealth ($31.5 billion) and BNY Mellon ($27.1 billion) increased their assets at 10.5% and 10.2% respectively.  

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J.P. Morgan has the largest amount of assets at $820.2 billion. 

Source: Australian Custodial Services Association – Industry Statistics June 2020, Table 1  

ACSA chief executive, Robert J Brown, said: “According to a recent ACSA member survey, 82% of asset servicing professionals are working from home. At the same time we have witnessed record volumes of transactions in the market. Despite the obvious challenges, there has been minimal disruption to service provision. 

“Although our industry is highly automated, there are exceptions. Asset servicing providers have needed to adapt to the social distancing and movement restrictions under public health orders, and this has created challenges for handling physical documents.  Mail room and vault access, support for transactions that require wet ink signatures and physical cheques all triggered changes to process for custodians, registries and other key players in the service chain.”