BofA topped UBS as 2008’s biggest international wealth manager, survey finds
Bank of America Corp. last year became the biggest international wealth manager, according to a survey released by London-based consultant Scorpio Partnership Ltd.
Bank of America Corp. last year became the biggest international wealth manager, according to a survey released by London-based consultant Scorpio Partnership Ltd.
Clients of the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank had $1.5 trillion in their accounts at the end of 2008, including the assets held by clients of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. of New York. Merrill and Bank of America merged Jan. 1.
Asset outflows at UBS AG helped Bank of America take the top spot from the Zurich, Switzerland-based company.
With $1.4 trillion in client assets, UBS was No. 2 in the survey, followed by Citigroup Inc. of New York ($1.3 trillion) and Wells Fargo & Co. of San Francisco ($1 trillion).
Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. of San Francisco, which has $ 1.1 trillion in client assets, was not included in the survey, as it doesn’t have an international operation, according to Scorpio.
Overall, global wealth management firms ran $14.5 trillion in assets as of last year, down 16.7% from 2007, the consulting firm said.
The median asset decline at the global investment managers was 15.7%.
Scorpio, which released its report Monday, found that most international wealth managers continued to add staff last year even as assets fell, raising “deep questions about the recruitment strategies of many private banks,” the consulting firm said in a statement.
Data for the survey came from annual reports or directly from the banks.
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