BNY Mellon is a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. The firm's roots date back to 1784, when Alexander Hamilton played a key role in founding The Bank of New York, the oldest U.S. private bank, shortly after the Revolutionary War.
BNY Mellon's wealth management team of financial advisors work with individuals, families and institutions across the globe. The firm provides its clients with services ranging from investment management and wealth planning to private banking and credit and lending services.
BNY Mellon Wealth Management Background
BNY Mellon assumed its current name in 2007 when The Bank of New York Company, Inc. and Mellon Financial Corporation merged. As previously mentioned, The Bank of New York dates back to 1784. Hamilton wrote the bank's constitution and served as one of the bank's directors. BNY Mellon also claims to be among the first firms to create a dedicated family office business.
BNY Mellon Wealth Management Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
BNY Mellon works with high-net-worth individuals and families, family offices, non-profit organizations, pension and profit-sharing plans, pooled investment vehicles, investment companies, government entities, insurance companies, 529 plans, corporations and other businesses.
When it comes to individuals, BNY Mellon says that it specializes in "meeting the complex investment and banking needs of wealthy individuals and their families." The firm does not specify minimum account sizes, but it does typically charge a minimum annual fee for its investment advisory services. Its minimum fee for its separately managed accounts ranges from $50,000 to $200,000 and varies depending on the investing strategy used.
Services Offered by BNY Mellon Wealth Management
BNY Mellon offers a notably extensive array of services, many of which are made possible because of it’s part of a larger global banking and financial services company. Though its exact services available vary somewhat by client type.
The firm operates through four separate investment product lines: Equity Product Line, Fixed Income Product Line, Index Product Line and Multi-Asset Product Line.
BNY Mellon may provide additional relationship-based services for existing clients and prospective clients. Such relationship-based services are negotiated individually with each client and may include certain account monitoring, trading or strategic allocation services. The firm may provide advice through consultations or research reports. The exact nature of the consultation will depend upon the requirements of the client. Topics may include but are not limited to, asset allocation, evaluation of new investment services relative to the client’s needs and product development.
BNY Mellon Wealth Management Investment Philosophy
As mentioned above, BNY Mellon offers four separate investment product lines.
The investment strategies of the firm's Equity Product Line depend on the overall objectives of individual clients. However, the Equity Product Line "identifies attractive stocks through rigorous quantitative and fundamental analyses blended with analysis of current business momentum and places controls on sector selection," according to the firm's brochure. The individual strategies offered through the Equity Product Line are:
- Global Equity
- Global Research
- Large Cap Value
- Small Cap Growth
- Small Cap Value
- Opportunistic Equity
- Multi-Factor Equity
- Thematic Equity
The Multi-Asset Product Line covers a variety of asset classes, spanning both active and index investing approaches. The Multi-Asset Product Line strategies are:
- Global Asset Allocation
- Domestic Asset Allocation
- Commodities
- Active Commodity
- Risk Parity
- Multi-Asset
The strategies of the Index Product Line provide exposure to a set of equity and fixed-income benchmarks with low tracking errors. "We believe indexing strategies offer a cost-effective method to obtain market exposure," the firm states in its brochure. These strategies are:
- U.S. Equity Indexing
- DT Indexing
- International Equity Indexing
- Global Equity Indexing
- Fixed Income Indexing
Lastly, BNY Mellon's Fixed Income Product Line comprises strategies that combine top-down, macroeconomic analysis with proprietary, fundamental bottom-up research. The Fixed Income Product Line strategies are:
- Multi-Sector: U.S. Core/Core Plus, Global Core/Global Core Plus, Opportunistic
- Multi-Sector: Insurance
- Global Credit
- Emerging Markets Debt
- Government and Interest Rate
- Municipal Bond Fixed Income
- Short-Term Investment
- Treasury Short-Term Investment
- Government Short-Term Investment
- Enhanced Short-Term Investment
- Ultra Short Government/Credit
- Stable Value
Fees Under BNY Mellon Wealth Management
BNY Mellon generally charges clients a percentage of their assets under management for its investment advisory separate account services. However, the firm generally requires a minimum annual fee that ranges from $25,000 to $250,000, and will vary depending on which strategy is employed
| Index Product Line | |
| Investment Strategy | Annual Fee Range |
| U.S. Equity Indexing | 0.01% - 0.10% |
| International Equity Indexing | 0.04% - 0.25% |
| Global Equity Indexing | 0.02% - 0.09% |
| Fixed Income Indexing | 0.01% - 0.22% |
| Green Beta Equity | 0.05% - 0.15% |
| Fixed Income Index | 0.01% - 0.22% |
| Emerging Markets Equity Index | 0.06% - 0.14% |
| Direct Indexing | 0.30% |
For cash strategies, fees range from 0.08% to 0.15%.
In addition to these fees, clients may also pay custody, brokerage and other transaction costs, administrative fees and other expenses. BNY also collects performance-based fees for certain account types and funds, when that account outperforms a specified benchmark.
What to Watch Out For
As is the case with many of its close competitors, BNY Mellon has some disclosures. However, all but one of these disclosures are attributed to The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation as a whole.
Most recently, in 2017, BNY Mellon's parent company agreed to pay $6.6 million to settle charges that it hadn't properly handled collateralized loan obligation assets. In 2015, in perhaps the company’s most high-profile settlement, The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation paid $14.8 million to settle U.S. civil charges that it had violated federal bribery laws by giving internships to family members of officials linked to a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund.
Also, because BNY Mellon generally requires a minimum annual fee of at least $25,000, many of its investment strategies are out of reach for lower-level investors.
Additionally, BNY Mellon does charge performance-based fees for certain accounts or funds. These fees are based on a portfolio's net return in excess of a specified benchmark or hurdle rate during a specified period of time, or they may be based on absolute return strategies. Also note that certain BNY Mellon employees earn commissions from selling securities, which may create a potential conflict of interest.
Opening an Account With BNY Mellon Wealth Management
To find out if there is a nearby BNY Mellon office, simply go to the firm’s website and pull up the list of office locations, which is searchable by zip code. BNY Mellon provides two ways to get in touch. You can speak with a wealth management professional by calling the firm's general inquiry number, (877) 385-9899. Or, you can write BNY Mellon a message and provide the firm with your contact information, including your first and last name, email address, phone number, city and state.
Clients are generally required to complete a written investment management agreement. Once you become a client, you can first expect to discuss your goals and work closely with an advisor to determine your objectives and expectations. From there you'll explore the proper asset allocation for your portfolio based on your goals and risk tolerance. After each part of your portfolio is analyzed, a plan will be created and implemented, should you approve it. Once in place, a team will actively manage your portfolio, routinely revisiting your goals, searching for new opportunities and rebalancing when appropriate.
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