Asset flow through 'Pershing pipes' fuels BNY fortunes

A little more than one year into what its CEO refers to as the "transformation" of BNY — the integration of Pershing and its other business lines — the company is seeing some results.

In a call with analysts after the megabank disclosed first-quarter earnings for clearing and custody giant Pershing and other units, BNY CEO Robin Vince cited economic uncertainty stemming from tariffs as a risk factor, even as he shared a success story from "a large privately held multinational company" that has expanded its business relationship with the firm. In a notable contrast with Pershing's outflows in the past two years due to the shutdown of First Republic and other losses of business, the company's net new assets spiked in the quarter.

Pershing and many other components are playing a pivotal role in the operational changes driving business across BNY, Vince said at the end of the call in response to an analyst's question about the factors involved with the company's organic growth rate.

"This is where the breadth of the firm really matters," Vince said, according to a transcript by investment website Seeking Alpha. "We're not a two-trick or three-trick pony. We're a dozen-trick pony. We can do everything from investment and wealth to retail wealth, to collateral management, to clearing, to payments, to liquidity ecosystems, et cetera, et cetera. So we have this breadth. And then the question is, can you actually operationalize the joining of these things together? And then do you have innovation? And so we think we're actually attacking the problem through all of those dimensions. And if we do that, we do it consistently and deliberately and relentlessly, then we think we will win. And that's what we're doing."

To see the main takeaways for financial advisors from the first quarter of 2025 for Pershing and BNY's Investment and Wealth Management segment, scroll down the page. Follow these links to see analysis of the firm's earnings for the fourth, third, second and first quarters of last year. 

Pershing assets under custody or administration

The number of assets under custody or administration at Pershing surged by 4% year over year to $2.7 trillion in the first quarter, driven in part by an influx of $11 billion in net new assets. In contrast, the company had sustained an outflow of $2 billion in the first quarter of 2024. Average active clearing accounts climbed 5% year over year to 8.4 million.

The company "started off the year with a meaningful renewal from Cambridge Investment Research, a longtime client and a growing independent firm," BNY Chief Financial Officer Dermot McDonogh noted in his prepared statements.

READ MORE: Pershing reverses outflows to the tune of $41B in net new assets 

Investment and Wealth Management client assets

Direct BNY wealth management client assets also rose 6% from the year-ago period to $327 billion in the first quarter, due to inflows and market appreciation, according to the firm.

Pershing revenue

Pershing's topline business jumped 7% year over year to $719 million for the first three months of 2025, thanks to asset values, higher interest-related earnings and incoming client holdings.

The unit of BNY that includes Pershing, which is the megabank's Market and Wealth Services segment, generated pretax income of $816 million on revenue of $1.69 billion for a margin of 48%. The unit's earnings soared by 20% compared to the same time a year ago, while topline revenue was up 11% and margin increased by three percentage points.

Investment and Wealth Management profit

BNY's wealth management revenue ticked up 1% from the year-ago period to $274 million in the first quarter. However, the company's investment management line of business took a hit because of adjustments to certain rebates tied to interest costs in some portfolios, as well as the timing of performance fees and smaller flows into the company's products.

For the quarter, the segment saw pretax income of $63 million on revenue of $779 million for a margin of 8%. The earnings tumbled by 41%, revenue was down 8% and margin fell by five percentage points.

READ MORE: Startup consolidator Arax seeks big growth with Pershing agreement

Remark

As part of the "strong client uptake" for Pershing's Wove technology platform for advisors, the company secured 22 contracts in the first quarter on top of the 52 client firms that have already joined the service, McDonogh said in an answer to an analyst's question. In general, the company is seeing "a little bit more choppiness" in terms of the net new assets flowing into its custodial, clearing and technology lines of business, he said.

"We see a lot of volume in terms of transaction activity flowing through the Pershing pipes, which is good for us," McDonogh said. "We had some decent-sized mandates that could have signed in Q1 slip to Q2, and that's, like, just more about the timing of when stuff comes on."