State Street, Northern Trust, and BNY Mellon Show the Custodian-Bank Breadth Spectrum in Q4 2025
State Street, Northern Trust, and Bank of New York Mellon all hold the same mega-cap leaders, but their top-ten concentration ranges from 27.7% to 31.4%.
State Street, Northern Trust, and Bank of New York Mellon all look familiar in Q4 2025. The top of each filing is built around NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet. The real difference is breadth. State Street's top ten reach 31.36%, Northern Trust's 30.75%, and BNY Mellon's 27.74%. Same leadership cluster, slightly different distribution discipline.
TL;DR
- Broadest of the three: BNY Mellon at 27.74% top ten.
- Most concentrated of the three: State Street at 31.36% top ten.
- Main read: Custodian-bank 13Fs are leadership-heavy but structurally broad.
- Key lesson: The same top holdings do not erase subtle breadth differences.
- Read with: our custodian-bank guide and our overlap guide.
Comparison Snapshot
| Filer | Largest Position | Top-5 Weight | Top-10 Weight | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Street | NVDA 6.20% | 22.09% | 31.36% | Largest front-end concentration of the three |
| Northern Trust | NVDA 6.03% | 21.91% | 30.75% | Very similar structure, slightly broader |
| BNY Mellon | NVDA 5.19% | 19.60% | 27.74% | Broadest top-book dispersion |
Custodian-Bank Top-5 vs Top-10 Concentration (%)
Why These Differences Matter
The absolute spread is not enormous, but it is real. A few percentage points at the top can change how dependent the filing is on the same market winners. State Street lets the top cluster matter slightly more. BNY Mellon leaves more room outside the obvious names.
That is why comparing custodian-bank 13Fs is still useful. They share the same market structure, but they do not distribute it identically.
Largest Position Weight Across Custodian Banks (%)
Questions Investors Search For
Do all custodian-bank 13Fs look the same?
No. The same top names appear often, but breadth and top-book distribution still differ.
Which one is broadest here?
Bank of New York Mellon, based on top-ten concentration.
What is the best metric to compare?
Top-five and top-ten concentration together.
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