Asset Management Survey 2016

Asset Management Survey 2016

The Investment Association’s latest flagship survey has revealed an increasingly global investment hub based in the UK, as preparations to exit the European Union begin.

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The UK asset management industry has further cemented its place as a global centre of excellence for investment management in recent years.

Our latest annual survey shows that the UK asset management industry has grown 8% year on year and now manages over £5.7 trillion, making it the second largest centre for investment management in the world.

The industry is truly global.

£2.2 trillion is managed in the UK for overseas clients – £1.2 trillion of which is managed for European clients outside of the UK, another £310 billion is managed for clients based in the US and the remaining £660 billion is managed for clients in locations spanning the rest of the world.

The UK is by far the largest asset management industry in Europe, managing 37% of total European assets – this is more than the French, German and Italian industries combined.

Not only is the UK industry’s client base increasingly global but also the ownership of UK based asset managers is ever more international. Overseas owned firms operating in the UK now account for 58% of the industry’s assets under management.

What does the future hold?

The UK’s decision to leave the European Union means that there will be regulatory and political challenges ahead for all industries.

Until there is a far clearer picture of what the relationship between the UK and the EU will look like, it is very hard to judge what impact Brexit will have on the UK's financial services sector as a whole.

But Brexit will also bring opportunities for the industry to serve clients in new and exciting markets around the world as the UK’s financial cluster takes on a new identity outside the EU. 

As we move into this new world, the UK asset management industry is in a strong position to continue to thrive and provide the wide range of products and services it has to offer to clients around the world.