Financial Crisis Leaves Its Mark on Europe’s Fund Managers The financial turbulence of the past two years had a significant impact the Euro 100, Institutional Investor’s exclusive annual ranking of the region’s largest fund managers. Assets managed by these firms fell by 22.2 percent, or a whopping €4.5 trillion ($6.7 trillion), in 2008, to a total of €15.8 trillion.
UBS leads the Euro 100 for a 12th consecutive year, but the big Swiss bank suffers a big decline in assets that substantially narrows its lead. The bank’s assets under management tumbled by 24.3 percent, or €410 billion, to €1.28 trillion at the end of 2008. UBS reported further outflows of Sf54 billion ($50 billion) in the first half of this year, a period in which it paid a $780 million fine and agreed to pull out of cross-border money management for U.S. clients to settle U.S. allegations that the bank had helped American investors avoid income taxes.
Allianz Group jumps two places, to second. The German insurer saw its assets decline by a relatively modest 11.1 percent last year, to €1.14 trillion. Allianz benefited from a heavy exposure to bonds, reflecting the strength of its big fixed-income subsidiary, Pacific Investment Management Co. Fully 85 percent of the assets of Allianz Global Investor, the fund management arm that contains Pimco, were in bonds at the end of last year. The insurer also moved to bulk up by agreeing in November to acquire Cominvest Asset Management, the €55.4 billion arm of Commerzbank; the deal closed in January.
How We Compiled the Euro 100 To compile this ranking, Institutional Investor surveyed banks, insurance companies, pension funds, hedge fund managers, independent fund managers and foreign money management firms with registered offices in Europe. European companies and companies headquartered in Europe (for example, HSBC Global Asset Management) 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. Senior Editor Jane B. Kenney and Researchers Emily Kaemmerlen and Valentina McKenzie gathered the data from questionnaires completed by the institutions themselves. This information 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. All information is as of December 31, 2008, unless otherwise noted.