Does anyone disagree? I can only speak from my experience in Asset Servicing, but BNYM's business model reflects more of a commodity than a service. What can they really add to the table that separates them from competitors?
Custody - most of it is already automated . Fund Administration - as long as you don't have NAV errors and you file statements on time, you're fine. You can add more controls but the expectation from the client is no NAV errors. Investor services - generally unprofitable as it is. It will all boil down to fees at the end of the day. If they can't raise their revenue, they have to cut costs or move as much as they can to cheaper service locations. Bundling services because other competitors can't? Fine, but expect to give a discount on that as well.
If they have to raise their fees, how do they justify it? What can you possibly add to custody services that will impress clients. More analytics? How realistic is that? What about Fund Accounting? How much more is there to do besides making the work cheaper by moving stuff to India and Poland?
The other side of the coin is that many in leadership have come from State Street, Northern Trust, BBH, and other competitors. Some BNYM alumni have gone to those places. Everyone knows each companies' strengths and weaknesses or at the very least, what clients are paying for services, like how much does it cost to settle a US trade STP? BNYM may win one client but a few months later, lose someone else. The main hurdle is that deconversion is costly to clients so they may have not feel the justification to push BNYM or any service provider too much on price.
This is why we are seeing layoffs in drips and drabs. That's all they can come up with and honestly it kind of checks out. At least if BNYM had a retail presence, they could dominate certain regions via branches or credit cards that offer perks with certain strategic partners. Nobody outside the industry even knows who BNYM are anyway.
Most of our leadership isn't here because they agree with BNYM's values or goals - they're just here to take a prestigious sounding role that would give them a higher pay check. They'll be gone in 2-3 years until the next regime comes in and reverses things the previous regime did, but then they'll leave before things get finished. There is really nothing to accomplish here or be proud. If you enjoy what they pay you and the work/life balance is pretty good, more power to you. But if you're doing all this work thinking it will have a major influence on BNYM's reputation in industry, that's an exercise in futility.
We're the dollar store of the Financial Services industry, but not just any dollar store - we're the one in the worst part of the city.