BNY becomes first bank in history with $50 trillion in assets under custody and administration on the way to a record quarter
One of the oldest banks in America crossed a historic milestone last quarter, but it’s not all good news
It took BNY Mellon 240 years to pass $50 trillion in assets under custody and administration, reaching 52.1 trillion as of September 30, according to it’s quarterly report out today, and by doing so became the first bank to do so. Boston-based State Street is in second as of last quarter with $44.3 trillion under custody and administration, and is unlikely to pass the milestone on Tuesday when its next quarterly report comes out.
But of course, it’s the ability to monetize those assets that matters most. The New York-based bank also reported earnings per share of $1.50, up 22% year-over-year, generated a record $3.4 billion in fees, up from $3.2 billion in Q3 of last year, and had a net income of $1.1 billion, a 16% increase over last year.
The bank’s stock is up a whopping 76% over the past year, reaching $74 as of the time of publication. It’s been a gangbuster’s year for the banking sector generally speaking, which dampens the impressive growth. But it’s still far outpacing the average growth of 48% seen by other American banks according to the Dow Jones U.S. Bank Index.
“The combination of our talented team, our portfolio of leading businesses working together, and the strength of our balance sheet, gives us a great foundation to deliver more to our clients and drive sustainable, long-term shareholder value,” said CEO Robin Vince in a statement provided to Fortune.
Contributing to that growth, BNY yesterday announced it would custody Washington D.C.-based Wisdom Tree’s $80 billion worth of U.S. listed ETFs, including one of the first U.S. bitcoin ETFs. The development follows on news last month that BNY had received an exception from the SEC allowing it to account for the crypto assets it custody’s on a separate balance sheet. Essentially, the highly volatile assets are being custodied in such a way that they aren’t seen as a risk to the rest the bank.
In August Fortune exclusively reported that BNY’s proprietary artificial intelligence was already being used by 14,000 of its 55,000 employees.
It’s not been all good news for BNY though. In August BNY Mellon Securities Corporation and Pershing LLC, agreed to pay a $40 million penalty for record keeping failures, and last week the bank was caught up in a Moscow arbitration court proceeding that saw hundreds of million of dollars in assets frozen pending further review.
Analysts at Equisights and Wells Fargo Securities both have BNY stock listed as a hold, according to S&P Capital IQ data. Despite the record quarter one Morningstar analyst marked BNY as an under performer, with a target price of $63.00.
