Peter L. Berg, hired this week as a vice president and sales director to promote custody services to registered investment advisers nationally, said he plans to cross-sell to existing customers and target "breakaway brokers" leaving wire houses for the independent channel.
"Certainly, we are looking to substantially increase revenue by double digits," Berg said in an interview. "I hope that we can increase our client base significantly.
"We want to be selective about that, but we are in a stage in our business where we are relaunching a service that has been around for some time. We have plucked some of the top people that are real veterans that really know the custody business well. The goal now is to get the word out."
Breakaway brokers are a big piece of this growth strategy, Berg said. But BNY Mellon will face stiff competition from other large companies that also want to custody these advisers' assets.
"There aren't a lot of companies that can fulfill all of their needs," he said. "We can offer a nice package of solutions to fulfill their broker-dealer needs and their higher-end bank custody requirements. We are comprehensive."
The number of breakaway brokers transitioning to independent channel has risen in the past year, according to
