SEI Investments Company (SEIC) Business Profile

What it does

SEI Investments Company sells financial technology, outsourced operations and investment management services. Its customers include banks, independent financial advisors, investment managers and institutions such as retirement plans and nonprofits. SEI is headquartered in Oaks, Pennsylvania, and Ryan P. Hicke is its chief executive officer.

The company helps financial firms run services that their own clients use. For example, a bank or advisor can use SEI’s technology to manage accounts, while outsourcing tasks such as accounting, administration and custody—the safekeeping of client assets. An investment manager can hire SEI to administer funds, service investors and support regulatory and reporting work.

The SEI Wealth Platform brings together technology, operations and investment management. Customers can buy software and information-processing services or use a broader package that also includes outsourced operations and custody. SEI offers services as individual components as well as integrated packages.

SEI also manages money and provides investment strategies and model portfolios. Its products include exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, separately managed accounts and collective trust funds. Institutional clients can delegate some or all investment management decisions to SEI or buy supporting tools and services for their own investment teams.

At December 31, 2025, SEI managed $455.4 billion in assets. Through its subsidiaries and partnerships in which it has a significant interest, it managed, advised on or administered approximately $1.9 trillion in assets. Those measures cover different activities and do not mean that SEI owns the client assets.

How it makes money

In 2025, revenue was $2.3 billion; in Q3 2026, revenue increased 14% compared with the prior year.

SEI earns fees for processing investments, administering operations, managing assets and providing other services. Investment processing fees are charged monthly for contracted services or as a percentage of the market value of client assets processed on its platforms. Investment operations and investment management fees are generally based on assets managed, administered or advised.

The Investment Managers segment serves traditional and alternative asset managers with fund administration, investor servicing, investment operations and other outsourced services. Its outsourcing contracts generally run from three to five years, and fees are earned primarily as a percentage of assets under management and administration. Account servicing fees also contribute to segment revenue.

Private Banks supplies technology, operations and investment products to wealth businesses at banks and trust companies. Its contracts generally run from five to seven years. Investment Advisors supplies independent advisors with technology, custody, operations and investment programs; its fees are typically bundled into asset management or custody charges. Institutional Investors provides outsourced investment management and supporting services, with fees primarily based on average assets under management.

In FY2025, investment operations fees were $858.9 million, while information processing and software servicing fees were $480.3 million. SEI also earned $466.5 million in investment management fees from investment management agreements. The company earned approximately 57% of its 2025 revenue from technology and operations outsourcing and 38% from asset management fees, with the remainder from professional and ancillary services.

SEI also earns fee income from programs that place client cash in interest-bearing deposit accounts at third-party banks. Asset-based charges change with client asset values and flows, while contracted processing services provide monthly fees.

Customers and how it sells

SEI organizes its core businesses around investment managers, private banks, investment advisors and institutional investors. Its customers also include wealth managers, family offices and ultra-high-net-worth investors. It serves 8 of the top 20 U.S. banks and 43 of the top 100 investment managers worldwide.

The Investment Managers business serves asset owners and managers of traditional, alternative and hybrid investments. Private Banks works with wealth management businesses inside banks and trust companies as well as independent advisors. Investment Advisors serves advisors across registered investment advisor, bank and independent broker-dealer markets. Those advisors maintain the relationship with the end investor, while SEI supplies technology, operations and investment programs.

Institutional customers include retirement plan sponsors, healthcare systems, higher education institutions and nonprofits. Some delegate investment decisions to SEI; others use its portfolio intelligence, accounting and data services to support internal teams.

The United States accounted for 85.2% of FY2025 revenue, the United Kingdom for 7.18%, and Ireland for 3.87%. SEI supports clients from service centers in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, continental Europe, India and South Africa. It also opened a Singapore office in September to support clients with operations and growth plans across Asia Pacific.

Suppliers and costs

SEI relies on people, technology and outside providers to deliver its services. Its third-party suppliers provide functions that include software development, processing, support, licensed software, software-as-a-service platforms, business process outsourcing and cloud hosting. SEI also depends on payment, clearing and settlement infrastructure. It expects its reliance on third-party providers to continue and potentially increase.

Personnel costs increased in 2025, primarily because of business growth, particularly in Investment Managers, and severance associated with a fourth-quarter reduction in force. Operating expenses also increased as technology and third-party vendor costs rose in Investment Managers and Private Banks. Direct costs for separately managed accounts and other investment products contributed to the increase.

SEI capitalized $30.0 million of software development costs in 2025, including $19.2 million for continued enhancements to the SEI Wealth Platform. It also capitalized $10.8 million for SEI Scope, a platform for Investment Managers placed into service during the third quarter of 2025. The company launched a Global Capability Center in Hyderabad, India, in May 2025 to expand access to talent and support operations across time zones.

Competitive position

SEI competes with different providers in each customer market. In investment manager outsourcing, competitors include SS&C Technologies, State Street, BNY Mellon, Northern Trust and Citco. In private banking technology, competitors include Fidelity National Information Services, Fi-Tek, SS&C Innovest, FNZ UK Ltd. and Avaloq, as well as customers’ own technology teams.

For independent advisors, SEI competes with advisory platform providers Envestnet and Orion and with custody-focused firms Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments. In outsourced institutional investment management, competitors include Mercer, Aon Hewitt, Willis Towers Watson, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs. SEI also faces pricing pressure from passive investment products and technology-driven providers.

SEI combines platform technology, custody, operations and investment management, and some client relationships span decades. Investment manager outsourcing contracts generally run from three to five years; private bank contracts generally run from five to seven years.

Our reading: The integrated offering and established relationships provide a meaningful competitive position because clients can buy several services from one provider, but the evidence does not establish that those services are difficult to replace. Our reading: Contract terms support continuity, although their protection is limited because some agreements allow termination with limited notice or penalty. Our reading: SEI’s experience with complex fund administration supports its position with investment managers, but pricing pressure and competing technologies constrain that advantage.

Growth opportunities

SEI is expanding services for alternative investment managers and retirement products, including administration for collective investment trusts. It is also developing SEI Access as a marketplace for alternative investments and incorporating LifeYield’s tax-management technology into the SEI Wealth Platform. The company is expanding the platform’s software-only capabilities alongside its outsourced operations offering.

In 2025, revenue from assets under management, administration and distribution fees increased partly because of additional sales to existing alternative investment clients and new sales in Investment Managers. Investment Advisors also benefited from market appreciation and positive flows into separately managed account and Strategist programs, partly offset by outflows and fee reductions in other programs.

SEI completed the first stage of its investment in Stratos Wealth Holdings in December 2025. Stratos supports financial advisors, and SEI intends to use the relationship to broaden distribution of its investment and wealth services. In Q3 2026, Stratos completed a tuck-in acquisition and onboarded several advisors.

SEI launched its retail transfer agency with its first client in July. The company expects combined transfer agency and fund administration revenue from that initiative to exceed $10 million on a run rate basis by the end of next year. Its ETF strategies totaled more than $9 billion in assets under management in Q3 2026, and other model providers had begun using SEI in their models.

Structural risks

• Markets and asset flows: Many fees depend on client asset values. Market declines or investment outflows can reduce revenue and earnings, while changes in interest rates or withdrawals can reduce cash-sweep fees.
• Clients and contracts: Large client losses, unfavorable renewals or early terminations could reduce revenue. Clients may also consolidate, bring outsourced work in-house or leave because of pricing, service or technology issues.
• Competition and development: Demand for lower-cost products and competing technology puts pressure on fees. Delays, cost overruns or performance problems in SEI’s platforms and new products could damage its competitiveness and require additional spending.
• Regulation and operations: SEI and its clients operate in regulated markets. Regulatory changes, noncompliance or failures by outside providers could increase costs, interrupt services or result in sanctions. Its UK subsidiary is working with the regulator on remedial actions.
• Acquisition integration: Combining acquired businesses can require changes to systems, controls and client relationships. SEI and Stratos mutually terminated the planned acquisition of NSC, resulting in a $32.5 million charge to Q3 2026 GAAP net income.
• People and offshore delivery: SEI depends on experienced staff and its India capability center. Staff attrition, infrastructure outages or failures to maintain quality and compliance across locations could disrupt client service.

Bottom line

Our reading

SEI combines outsourced financial infrastructure with asset management, earning fees both for contracted processing and for client assets it manages or administers. Its integrated services and established relationships support the business, while market values, client retention and fee pressure remain important exposures. Expansion into alternative investments, advisor distribution and new services creates opportunities, but also requires technology investment and execution.