Europe's Top 100 Money Managers
Among the global players that dominate the top ranks of Europe's money managers, UBS claims the No. 1 ranking in our Euro 100 listing for an eighth straight year. Moreover, it wins despite its asset growth's lagging the Euro 100 average by about 4 percentage points: It gained less than 3 percent, to increase from E1.42 trillion to E1.46 trillion, partly reflecting sluggish growth in its private banking business. Barclays Global Investors, rising from third to second place, delivers the biggest growth surge in the Euro 100, its assets rising 18 percent, from E846.9 billion to E1.0 trillion. Credit an explosion in the firm's hedge fund business along with strong inflows into its enhanced index funds (Institutional Investor, October 2005).
How We Compiled the Euro 100
To compile this ranking, Institutional Investor surveyed banks, insurance companies, pension funds, independent fund managers and foreign money management firms with registered offices in Europe. European companies and companies headquartered in Europe (for example, HSBC Holdings) were asked to report global assets under management. Non-European companies were asked to report only European-derived assets (invested domestically or internationally) and non-European assets slated for investment in Europe. Data from questionnaires completed by the institutions themselves, which was supported by annual reports, additional reporting and follow-up faxes and telephone calls. The numbers are as comparable as possible, considering the different accounting practices in Europe. Assets are stated in euros. In some cases, assets at continental European institutions are higher than reported because their accounting rules require that they value assets at the lower of cost or market value. As a result of currency conversion and rounding, not all columns add up.