Troubled Bank Of America Still World's Biggest Wealth Manager

Jul. 13 2011 - 1:59 pm | 255 views | 0 recommendations | Image by AFP/Getty Images via @daylife

Despite all the bad news that Bank of America has been faced with since 2008 the U.S. bank is still on top of the world on the private banking front.

That’s according to a report out today ranking the world’s 20 biggest wealth managers. BofA took the top spot with $1.944 trillion in assets in private banking followed by Morgan Stanley with $1.628 trillion and UBS AG with $1.559 trillion.

The number one and two spots are held by two banks that snatched up rival wealth management firms in the heat of the financial crisis. Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch in September 2008 which gave the North Carolina bank a prominent hold on the wealth management business almost overnight. The move to buy save Merrill was questioned immediately after it was announced with critics predicting a mass exodus of Merrill employees. But compared to BofA’s acquisition of Countrywide which has been a never-ending, expensive headache the Merrill deal is a huge victory.

Morgan Stanley’s joint venture with Citigroup‘s Smith Barney in January 2009 making it the biggest retail wealth management firm with over 18,000 financial advisors.

UBS’s position at number three is a relief for management there as the firm was one of the hardest hit in the wake of the financial crisis.

The increase in AUM for the private banking industry was helped primarily by market gains which helped boost assets by 11% last year as the top 20 wealth managers oversaw $11 trillion, according to Scorpio Partnership a London-based consultant to the wealth management industry that assembled the report.

But it’s not all good news for the industry. Private banks are seeing a slowdown in the rate of net new money coming their way. The rate of net new asset flows were down by 18.8% from 2009. Not only that but the industry cost-income ratio also fell to an average of 79.76% down 1% from last year while margin pressure increased across different performance measurements.

“The detailed analysis of nearly 200 institutions worldwide shows that for many the pistons of growth in their business model continue to misfire. If there were to be another market crisis of even a minor scale, we would be very concerned for many institutions and their future. There is little planning for this. It is clear to us from this benchmarking that many firms need to upgrade and modernise or else call time on their exposure to this client segment and this is not just among the smaller operators,” says Sebastian Dovey partner at Scorpio.

Here’s a list of the Top 20 Private Banks by Assets Under Management:

Rank Firm AuM AuM Rank2010 ($bln) % Chg. Chg.1 Bank of America Corp. 1,945 4.2 --2 Morgan Stanley 1,628 8 --3 UBS 1,560 6.6 --4 Wells Fargo & Co. 1,398 14.8 --5 Credit Suisse Group 865 11.6 --6 Royal Bank of Canada 435 14.8 --7 HSBC Holdings Plc 390 6.3 --8 Deutsche Bank 369 35.3 --9 BNP Paribas 340 45.7 +210 JPMorgan Chase & Co. 284 5.2 -111 Pictet & Cie. 268 10.1 -112 Goldman Sachs Group 229 -0.9 --13 ABN Amro Bank 220 23.8 +114 Barclays Bank Plc 186 1.9 -115 Julius Baer Group 182 22.5 +216 Credit Agricole 172 4.2 -117 Bank of NY Mellon 166 7.8 -118 Northern Trust Corp. 154 6.3 --19 Lombard Odier 153 7.8 --20 Citigroup Inc. 141 15.4 +1Source: Scorpio Partnership

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Troubled bank of America is the world's largest asset managers

Jul 13 2011-1: 59 pm | 562 Views | 0 Recommendations |  Image by AFP/Getty Images via @ Daylife

Despite the bad news that Bank of America, with is facing since 2008 is the U.S. Bank still across the world on the front of the private banking.

Is the a report today ranking world's 20 largest wealth manager according to. Bank of America took spot with $1.944 trillion in assets in private banking up, followed by Morgan Stanley with 1.628 trillion and UBS AG, 1.559 trillion.

The number one and two spots are held by two banks, the rival wealth snatched management company in the heat of the financial crisis. Bank of America Merrill Lynch bought in September 2008 which gave the North Carolina Bank a prominent influence on the wealth management almost overnight. The transition to save was buy Merrill immediately after it was at critics predict a mass exodus of Merrill employees being provided. But when compared to the Bank of America acquisition of countrywide that was infinite, expensive headache, the Merrill deal is a great victory.

The largest retail wealth management firm make it with more than 18,000 financial adviser Morgan Stanley joint venture with Citigroup Smith Barney in January 2009.

UBS's position at number three is a relief for management as the company the hardest affected was one of the in the wake of the financial crisis.

The increase in the AUM for the private banking industry was primarily by market gains the assets increase by 11% in the previous year helped, as the top 20 wealth-monitored 11 trillion dollars, according to Scorpio partnership helped consultants of London's wealth management industry, which incorporated the report.

But it's not all good news for the industry. Private banks see a slowing in the rate of net new money inflows coming their way. The rate of the net new asset flows were 18.8% in 2009. Not only that but the industry cost income ratio also dropped to an average 79.76% 1% over the previous year during pressure on margins of various performance measurements increased.

"The detailed analysis of the nearly 200 institutions around the world shows that for many the Pistons continue to growth in its business model misfire." If it were a different market crisis which would be even a minor scale, we are very worried for many institutions and their future. There is little planning for it. "It is clear to us from this benchmarking, many companies to update and modernize, otherwise call time must on their exposure to this client segment, and this is not only among the smaller operators", says Sebastian dovey partner in Scorpio.

Here is a list of the top 20 private banks by assets under management:

Rank company AuM AuM Rank2010 ($ bln) % am. Chg. 1 Bank of America Corp. 1,945 4.2-2 Morgan Stanley 1,628 8--3 UBS 1.560 6, 6--4 Wells Fargo & co. 1,398 14, 8--5 Credit Suisse Group 865 11, Royal Bank of Canada 435 6--6 14, 8--7 HSBC Holdings plc 390 6.3--8 Deutsche Bank 369 35.3-9 BNP Paribas 340 45.7 + 210 JPMorgan Chase & co. 284 5.2 -111 Pictet & Cie. 268 10.1 112 Goldman Sachs Group 229 0, 9-13 ABN AMRO Bank 220 23.8 114 Barclays Bank plc 186 1.9 Julius Baer Group 182 22.5 + 216 between Crédit Agricole 172 4.2 -117 Bank of New York Mellon 166 7.8 -118 Northern Trust Corp. 154 6.3--19 Lombard Odier 153 7, 8-20 Citigroup Inc. 141 15.4 + 1source: Scorpio partnership

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