13 September 2018

The Investment Association: Growing European investment in UK asset management industry underlines importance of a Brexit deal

Key 2017 findings:

• £7.7 trillion managed by IA members in the UK - 11% increase from 2016
• £9.1 trillion of assets under management (AUM) by wider UK industry – 12% increase
• £3.1 trillion managed for overseas clients - up 19% from £2.6 trillion
• £1.8 trillion of overseas assets from European investors – up 29% from 2016
• 100,000 jobs supported by the asset management industry across the UK
• One third of the value of UK plc owned by asset managers - c. £920 billion

The Brexit context

The importance of the UK’s financial services sector to the UK and European economy has come into sharp focus as the date for the UK exiting the EU rapidly approaches.

The UK’s status as a preeminent global centre of asset management expertise has seen AUM from overseas clients increase by almost a fifth to £3.1 trillion, over half of which (£1.8 trillion) is from European investors.

In Europe, the UK remains the largest centre of asset management (larger than the next three countries - Germany, France and Switzerland - combined), where it manages 35% of AUM. 

Investors are engaging UK based fund managers to invest around the globe. In 2017, 70% of equities managed in the UK were overseas, up from 49% a decade ago. The same theme is evident in fixed income markets where overseas bonds now represent 42% of all fixed income assets - up from a third in 2011.

The asset management industry also makes an important contribution to export earnings, responsible for 6% of UK net service exports, and the value of export receipts has risen seven times in the last 20 years. [...]

Full press release

Full report

© Investment Association