BNY Mellon's Pershing Realigns U.S. Business

BNY Mellon's Pershing says it is realigning its U.S. business to address shifts it sees "in the marketplace driven by the convergence of business models and the move toward holistic wealth management."

As a result, effective May 1, the firm will be newly aligned under two main segments — Wealth Solutions and Institutional Solutions — down from three segments, one of which served broker-dealers.

Wealth Solutions, co-led by Maura Creekmore and Ben Harrison, will focus on RIAs, wealth-oriented broker-dealers and trust companies. It aims to "address the evolving and converging needs of these clients," the firm said.

The segment plans to deliver an improved lending solution, along with digitized account opening and asset transfers, allowing clients to scale their businesses, according to the Pershing announcement.

Pershing is also integrating more of its work with innovators across portfolio management, financial planning and client relationship management, it said.

Institutional Solutions, meanwhile, is being led by David Hopkins and will serve institutional-oriented BDs, investment banks and other capital markets firms, hedge funds and alternative investment managers.

Pershing's institutional platform offers clients a "single, seamless experience backed by the strength and scale of BNY Mellon, offering financing, collateral management, global trade execution, securities lending and syndicate capabilities," the company said.

Pershing will organize its client-facing teams to serve the two segments and "deliver streamlined and higher touch service which will result in simpler communication, collaboration and inquiry resolution," it added.

Executive Comments on the Shift

"Our industry is undergoing significant change," according to Jim Crowley, Pershing CEO. "Our new model is designed to align our expertise to the evolving needs and business models of our clients," he said in the announcement.

"It will allow our clients to more easily tap into the power of the BNY Mellon enterprise and exponentially bolster the scale, capabilities, and insights we can deliver in the marketplace," Crowley explained.

The concept of "client-centricity has long been a hallmark of how we serve clients," according to Emily Schlosser, Pershing COO. "Under our new model, we will be able to deliver streamlined service and seamless access to a broader set of solutions, including more money fund and lending options, additional investment product choices and global execution capabilities."

Pershing has over $2 trillion in assets and millions of investor accounts. It works with over 700 RIAs and a similar number of broker-dealer firms — some of which are dually registered. It also serves about 100 clients that operate as hedge funds or fund managers registered with the SEC.

As of March 31, BNY Mellon had $41.7 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $2.2 trillion in assets under management.

(Photo: Bloomberg)