J.P. Morgan, Netwealth climb in ACSA rankings

J.P. Morgan has topped the list of the largest asset custodians in Australia according to new data released by the Australian Custodial Services Association (ACSA), as Northern Trust closes in and Netwealth breached the top ten.

The data also showed assets under custody hit $4.3 trillion for the six months ending 31 December 2022, recording a 0.6 per cent increase when compared to the previous six months.

J.P. Morgan cracked the one-trillion-dollar mark in the six months to December, recording a 3.3 per cent increase from the previous period. Northern Trust is close on its heels at $718.2 billion, seeing a 5.7 per cent rise from the six months to June, and Netwealth also recorded the second-largest increase of 12 per cent to rank ninth at $62.4 billion.

This comes as the amount of assets held on behalf of Australian investors in Australia decreased by 0.5 per cent, while assets held offshore surged by three per cent.

“Member organisations continue to see the industry consolidation impacting the relative movements of ACSA member data in the December report,” ACSA chief executive, David Travers, said.

“Looking ahead, ACSA members will continue to focus on their response and feedback to changing regulatory requirements, their evolving role in supporting institutional involvement in digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, and the future direction of the ASX’s CHESS replacement project.

“Innovation, digital asset evolution and standards remain critical to achieving efficiency in custody and investment administration.

“ACSA remains well placed to address the opportunities and challenges in the coming year through a combination of our working groups and task forces, which draw on the extensive expertise of member custodians.”