European private banks continued to attract net inflows of client money last year, even as the mutual fund industry haemorrhaged cash, according to an annual survey conducted by McKinsey, the consultancy.
From the Financial Times:
European private banks continued to attract net inflows of client money last year, even as the mutual fund industry haemorrhaged cash, according to an annual survey conducted by McKinsey, the consultancy.
Net inflows totalled 3 per cent of starting assets, down from 7 per cent in 2007, with even Swiss banks attracting money in spite of “unprecedented regulatory pressure” on the “offshore” private banking industry.
However, all of the net new money went to the private banking arms of universal banks, many of which benefited from a perception of being “too big to fail”, rather than specialist private banks.
In spite of the inflows, the continent’s assets under management still fell 15 per cent due to market losses, taking the industry back to 2005 levels. McKinsey warned that the pain was far from over, with net inflows falling to zero in the last quarter of 2008 and remaining sluggish in the first quarter of this year.
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