Malkjot

Malkjot, filling in for Ken Austin, inquired about the strategic split between the wealth and asset management businesses, specifically if asset servicing is envisioned to achieve high 20s margins while wealth management grows at current pre-tax margins. He also asked for insights into the organic growth trends within each business for the quarter and future years.

Answer

Michael O'Grady (Chairman and CEO) noted that asset servicing needs more work to consistently reach high 20s margins, while wealth management has attractive margins and faster growth is prioritized, even if it means some margin dilution. O'Grady stated wealth management's organic growth was 1-2% for the year/quarter, with GFO and ultra-high net worth segments growing faster. Asset servicing had strong organic growth of 2-3% in Q4, focused on scalable, profitable growth.