Wealth Managers’ Assets Fall 14%

July 22, 2003, 1:00 a.m. EDT 1 Min Read

According to Boston Consulting Group, wealth managers assets under management have dropped by 14% and their revenues have fallen 25% in the past four years. Boston Consulting revealed these findings in a report entitled Winning in a Challenging Market: Global Wealth 2003, based on interviews with 80 of the worlds leading wealth managers, with $5 trillion in assets under management.

The report also found that wealthy investors, defined as those whose household has $250,000 or more to invest, have lost $5.3 trillion since January 2000, just before the onset of the bear market.

Bruce Holley, vice president and director of the Boston Consulting Group, said that despite the rough conditions, there still exists a contingent, albeit a small one, of strong-performing wealth managers. The top third of all wealth managers is producing returns of as much as 20% to 30%, Holley said.

The report goes on to identify the qualities of top performers in wealth management and private banking. They are: having a clear understanding of competitive advantages; being very disciplined about maintaining costs; being more productive and producing higher revenues per manager; and being successful at attracting and keeping the best customers.

Boston Consulting said that wealth managers revenues in 2002 were $352.7 billion, down 25% from $472.9 billion in 1999.