Published : Oct-2016
No. of Pages : 45
Executive Summary
AUM at the top private wealth managers grew by just 0.9% in 2015
Key findings
Critical success factors
Benchmarking Wealth Managers By Client Assets
2015 saw the top wealth managers' market share drop
Swiss and US banks dominate the ranks of the top five wealth managers by AUM
The top five wealth managers accounted for $4.8tn of client assets
Few wealth managers experienced AUM contractions in 2015
Private wealth management is typically the main focus of Super League players
Competition for smaller-scale investors has been fierce, raising the threshold for the 'marginal client'
US broker dealers dominate when measuring wealth managers by AUA
The largest US broker dealers had almost $5tn in assets
Overall wealth managers' AUA growth in 2015 was negative
A key element of wealth manager AUA, brokerage assets have been held back by equity markets and growing competition
Net inflows remained strong in 2015, though lower than in 2014
In 2015, positive inflows saved wealth managers from AUM contraction
2016 will test investors' trust in wealth managers' skills
Benchmarking Wealth Managers By Financial Performance
Group-level performance remains volatile, though 2015 was a good year in general
Combined Super League profits stood at all-time highs as competitors dealt with one-offs
The contribution of wealth management operations varies greatly
Most wealth management divisions reported profits in 2015
However, these profits were generally lower than in 2014
Even profitable wealth units face growing cost bases and shrinking margins
Appendix
Abbreviations and acronyms
Supplementary data
Methodology
Competitor coverage
Client assets data
Financial performance data
Exchange rates
Bibliography
Further reading
About Verdict Financial
Disclaimer
List of Tables
Table 1: Super League wealth managers' published private clients AUM ($bn), 2014-15
Table 2: Wealth management unit standard minimum thresholds, 2015
Table 3: Super League wealth managers' AUA ($bn), 2014-15
Table 4: Super League wealth managers' net new money ($bn), 2010-15
Table 5: Comparison of selected wealth managers' retail and private client AUM ($bn), 2013-15
Table 6: US wealth managers' brokerage assets ($bn), 2010-15
Table 7: Super League competitors' profit before tax at group level ($bn), 2014-15
Table 8: Super League competitors' wealth management units' contribution to group revenues (%), 2014-15
Table 9: Super League competitors' profit before tax at wealth management division level ($bn), 2014-15
Table 10: Super League competitors' operating revenues at wealth management division level ($bn), 2014-15
Table 11: Super League competitors' operating expenses at wealth management division level ($bn), 2014-15
Table 12: Competitors tracked in Super League analysis
Table 13: Wealth divisions tracked in Wealth Management Competitor Analytics
Table 14: Competitors for which estimates have been used
Table 15: US dollar exchange rates, December 31, 2014, and December 31, 2015
List of Figures
Figure 1: The top wealth managers' AUM growth has been slowing
Figure 2: The largest wealth managers struggled with AUM growth in 2015
Figure 3: Only two competitors recorded double-digit AUM growth in 2015
Figure 4: Most Super League competitors are focused on private rather than retail clients
Figure 5: Most wealth managers recorded lower AUA in 2015 compared to 2014
Figure 6: Growth in wealth managers' brokerage operations has been slowing
Figure 7: Super League wealth managers have been recording positive net new money flows since 2010
Figure 8: In 2015 net new money decreased for the first time since 2012
Figure 9: BNP Paribas nearly tripled its net inflows between 2014 and 2015
Figure 10: Only four Super League competitors recorded losses at group level in 2015
Figure 11: Private banks are not the core business of the large banking groups
Figure 12: Only two competitors' wealth divisions recorded losses in 2015
Figure 13: The cost/revenue ratio has been increasing since the financial crisis
Figure 14: Few competitors managed to reduce operating expenses in 2015
Figure 15: Rising costs continued to affect wealth managers' profits
