Trust and wealth executives are navigating a landscape where growth is accelerating, and so are the challenges. Global assets under management reached $135 trillion in 2024 and $147 trillion by June 2025. With wealth management now driving more than 80% of net flows, executives need to focus on a few key performance metrics every quarter to stay competitive. Here are five critical ones you can’t afford to ignore.
It’s not just about new money coming in-retaining clients and their heirs is what counts. Around 70% of heirs switch advisors after inheriting wealth.
What to watch:
These give a clear picture of which relationships are strong and where you may need to deepen engagement. As Michael Kim, CEO and president of AssetMark, said, “As demographics shift and clients expect a holistic wealth advisory experience, trust institutions are offering innovative, open-architecture wealth platforms to better serve their clients. Through a comprehensive platform that blends Cheetah’s trust accounting with AssetMark’s wealth management capabilities, our support empowers forward-thinking banks to gain operational efficiency, scale with confidence and deliver a more personalized client experience to current and future clients.”
More assets don’t always mean more profit. Revenue yields continue to compress while operating complexity and costs rise. Track yields by product type and pay attention to your mix—lean into active fixed income where appropriate and consider semi-liquid/evergreen vehicles that meet private wealth demand. The objective is straightforward: Keep yields stable while offering what clients actually want.
Operational discipline is equally important. Automation, real-time account management and fewer manual tasks are reshaping trust operations. Institutions using integrated platforms report faster time-to-open accounts, smoother straight-through processing and fewer service tickets. First State Bank in Texas calls the AssetMark–Cheetah integration a “cost-effective force multiplier,” while Frontier Bank in South Dakota highlights digital access and curated investment options as keys to serving next-generation wealth.
By integrating advanced technology and automation, AssetMark is enabling banks to streamline operations and focus more on client relationships and driving growth.
With banks holding $24.5 trillion in total assets in Q1 2025, boards should keep a close eye on year-over-year growth in fiduciary fee income, the mix of fiduciary types (personal trust, IRA/retirement, corporate) and the conversion pipeline from wealth management to fiduciary mandates. These numbers show how well the institution is balancing risk and opportunity and where growth is coming from.
Client experience and digital adoption remain leading indicators of retention and growth. A modern trust and wealth stack offers unified access, integrated data and advisor-friendly interfaces Executives should track digital login activity, portal adoption among beneficiaries, onboarding activities and satisfaction scores across generations. These insights reveal how well you’re serving today’s clients—and how prepared it is to retain tomorrow’s wealth.
Bottom line: Sustainable success in trust and wealth depends on tracking what matters. Trust and wealth executives who focus on asset movement and retention, revenue yield, operational efficiency, fiduciary fee income and client experience keeps your institution competitive, profitable, drive growth and ready for the next generation of clients.
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8551054.1 | 10/2025 | EXP 10/31/2027