In 2019, when setting the long-term strategy for UMB’s institutional custody business, which was about to become a standalone business, we had about $60 billion in assets under custody. We were setting an initial goal, and $100 billion seemed outlandish. Then someone in the room said, “We can blow right past that.”
This month we announced that, as of March 31, 2026, we hold $250 billion in assets under custody‡ — a 19% increase year over year and a 298% increase since custody became a distinct business unit at UMB.
When we sketched out that strategy in 2019, we didn’t know exactly what the next seven years would hold. What we did know is that we would invest in our people and technology and continue to stay ahead of industry trends. We’re proud of what we’ve built, and we’re excited about what’s to come.
I’d like to share a little about what’s driving our growth, as well as the people and approach behind it.
What we do
The custody world has changed, but our mission hasn’t. As a qualified custodian, we still have a physical vault—mostly for bonds—but the work is overwhelmingly digital now. Our fundamental job is to protect the assets held in custody. We sit between an asset manager and the securities, holding those assets, managing the accounting, and providing the ancillary services that ensure investors are protected from bad actors.
Most of our clients fall somewhere in the range of $500 million to $30 billion in assets, and they look to us to be a careful, dependable partner in a business where the details matter.
Where we fit in the industry
We’re not the largest custodian, and we’re not the smallest. Where we shine is high-touch customer service. We don’t force clients into a single operating model. If you want straight-through processing, SWIFT, and portals, we have that. If your operation isn’t ready for fully automated workflows, we can be hands-on and take on more for you. If you want a full-service relationship where a real person who knows your business picks up the phone, that’s available too. As your business grows and becomes more complex, our services flex with you.
The economics of this business line up with that approach. Custodians generally calculate charge as a percentage of assets, so when our clients are successful, we’re successful. We grow when they grow. That alignment shapes how we invest in people and technology, and we’ve invested heavily on both fronts in recent years, from enhanced straight-through processing and in-house foreign exchange to collective investment trustee services, expanded directed trustee capabilities for insurance and pension clients, broader ETF full-service capabilities, FDIC sweeps for overnight cash, and an integrated custody and treasury platform.
What’s driving our growth of institutional custody
Private assets and semi-liquid funds continue to grow in popularity. For these complex assets, robust middle-office services are crucial to an asset manager’s operational efficiency, and some of our recent conversions have brought hundreds of funds and their corresponding demand deposit accounts onto our platform at once. Alternative assets have been the single biggest driver of our growth, with insurance and government custody right behind.
Municipalities and other political subdivisions are managing more diversified and complex portfolios than ever before, and they need partners who can support risk monitoring, performance reporting, compliance monitoring, collateral management, and treasury and liquidity functions. That’s a big part of why the City of Fort Worth recently selected UMB to provide custodial services for their multi-billion-dollar operations—work that also expands our growing presence in Texas. We perform similar work for pooled vehicles that individual municipalities can sweep into.
Insurance companies are on a parallel trajectory, where middle-office needs increasingly involve non-traditional asset servicing for alternative investments, foreign exchange, regulatory reporting, securities lending, and collateral management.
Liquidity solutions continue to be in high demand as asset managers navigate volatile markets. In close collaboration with UMB’s commercial bank, we offer both reverse repo and line of credit options. Notably, we offer committed reverse repo facilities in addition to the more common uncommitted ones. In October 2025, ReFlow Fund, LLC engaged us for both custody services and credit facilities, and that kind of integrated relationship is increasingly what asset managers are looking for.
About our custody team
None of this growth happens without an outstanding team. People who come to us from larger organizations tell me the same thing: here, your opinion matters, and you can make a real impact on strategy and growth. You’re not just a person in a crowd. You’re not just a number. That’s deeply satisfying for our team, and our clients feel it too. The support we receive from UMB’s executive leadership and board is unlike anything I’ve experienced in my career.
Our shared custody and operations group is about 100 associates strong, with another 50 or so colleagues handling ancillary functions. Most of the team is located in Kansas City, with a sizeable contingent in Milwaukee, and we hire the best talent we can find regardless of where they live.
Learn how UMB can support your firm’s domestic and global custody needs with our comprehensive services and high-touch service model.
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