UK – Investment managers in the UK now manage over £3tn (€4.3tn) in assets, according to the Investment Management Association(IMA).

IMA members manage some £2.8tn, up from £2.16tn last year, but taking into account hedge funds, private equity and other assets managed by non-IMA members, the total figure is estimate to be over £3tn

Insurance and occupational schemes pensions assets account for some £2tn (70%) of member assets, according to the fourth annual IMA survey of the industry.

“Although liability-led strategies currently represents some 5%, a quarter of asset management firms expect this area to be the fastest growing in a matter of two to three years,” said the association.

“A sharp increase in the position of equities can be seen as a proportion of total assets, matched samples suggest the shift to bonds in institutional portfolios is continuing.”

The IMA added that excluding in-house occupational pension investment operations, two thirds of assets managed by survey respondents are now in specialist or single asset mandates.

Assets managed on behalf of overseas clients represent some 20% of the total, reinforcing the UK’s position as an international financial centre.

Retail investment products accounts for £530bn, with nearly two thirds in UK authorised investment funds. But the IMA estimates that around £200bn of these are managed in the UK, but domiciled offshore.

What the IMA members earned from assets managed in the UK is reckoned to be 28 basis points, equivalent to £8bn.

The numbers employed in the UK asset management industry is approaching 25,000, which excludes the employees of the providers of outsourcing services.

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