The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation announced it is repackaging services into a simple bundle to streamline the process for advisors and help reduce costs.
The bundle, which does not have a formal name, will unify the firm’s managed accounts platform, asset allocation and manager selection, investment management products, customized tax solutions and its and clearance services from BNY Mellon’s Pershing into a simple unified package, the firm said in a press release yesterday. The bundle will also include Wove, a wealth management platform built by Pershing X, a technology provider within BNY Mellon's Pershing.
“By packaging multiple investment solutions into one bundled offering, we are simplifying the complex for advisors and providing them with bespoke solutions from across our firm,” Ben Harrison, head of wealth solutions at BNY Mellon’s Pershing, said in a press release yesterday. “This way they get value and access to the full breadth of what BNY Mellon has to offer—that’s really the philosophy behind this.”
The bundle takes advantage of a recent shift in the industry with advisors seeking more customized solutions for their clients. To accomplish that, they are looking for solutions where they have more control over the various aspects of the investments, according to Dave DiPetrillo, head of North America distribution for BNY Mellon Investment Management.
“As this industry moves from packaged solutions and into custom managed accounts ... there is significant effort that has to go into not only the underlying capabilities but the connectivity across so the components speak really well together,” he said. “The focus is increasingly on an end-to-end solution so there isn’t a part of that chain that falls down and creates a really bad experience for the advisor or client."
Advisors will enjoy savings when using the new bundle, according to firm officials. Since they will not be working with multiple services, but just through one contract, the chances of repetitive or overlapping work is diminished. The firm is anticipating that the bundle will help advisors save up to 40% for those who use multiple services, DiPetrillo said.
“As we bring more of these services together for clients, it definitely drives scale on our side and we’re willing to pass it back,” he said.
Finally, taking advantage of the new bundle will afford advisors more time to spend with their clients, which has become a growing need. One of the things that has been causing advisors to limit their face time with clients has been more reliance on technology. While there are benefits to technology, there can be some drawbacks, particularly for those who do not fully understand them.
“It runs the risk of getting more complex which honestly pulls time away from clients and has advisors perhaps spending too much time in front of their computers trying to figure out how this stuff works,” DiPetrillo said.
By working with firms such as BNY that can help advisors manage that tech, it allows them to spend more time with clients, he said.