The company, which earns the bulk of its revenue for services like record-keeping for mutual and hedge funds, said that excluding special items, earnings rose to $444 million, or 88 cents a share, from $371 million, or 75 cents a share, year earlier.
Analysts had expected 86 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Net income was $471 million, or 93 cents a share, compared with $495 million, or 99 cents, a year earlier.
Late last year the company took a charge to reposition its portfolio and cut jobs.
Assets under custody and administration rose 19 percent from a year earlier to $22.6 trillion and climbed 5 percent from the 2010 fourth quarter.
Assets under management rose 7.7 percent from a year ago to $2.1 trillion as investment management fees earned at the company's State Street Global Advisors unit increased, in part because of improved financial market conditions.