A “staggering” increase in assets held under master custody drove a 39 per cent rise in total Australian assets under custody to $768 billion last year.
Ann Forbes, chair of the Australian Custodian Services Association, says assets under master custody increased by “a staggering 68 per cent to $324 billion,” in 1998.
She attributed this to the trend for investment managers to outsource their back offices to master custodians.
Global custody assets rose by 30 per cent to $90 billion, reflecting increased Australian investment in overseas markets. Domestic custody grew 19 per cent to $353 billion.
Forbes predicts assets under custody will continue growing in 1999 but will slow in the second half.
The leading custodian for all categories was Westpac Financial Services with $102 billion, followed by National Australia Bank with $92.1 billion and State Street Australia with $88.7 billion.
