How global are the global custodians? They may like to boast about their worldwide agent bank networks, some of which cover more than 90 markets, but should that be the yardstick by which their coverage of the world's investment industry is measured? A big network may be more of a rather sad virility symbol than an accurate reflection of custodians' international business flows, yet they are rarely challenged about the extent to which they operate beyond their home markets.

Practically every leading custodian – with the notable exceptions of Citigroup and BNP Paribas – has built its international business on the back of a strong domestic book. According to figures compiled by globalcustody.net, less than a quarter of State Street's custody assets are held outside the US, with the Bank of New York (27%) and JP Morgan (31%) only marginally better. Compare this with BNP Paribas, with 78% of assets being non-domestic, and Citigroup (62%), and it gives a better view of the provenance of custody assets held by the big boys.