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    • The financial services industry in Scotland
      • Financial services sectors
        • Investment management

Investment management

Scotland has long been renowned as a centre of excellence in investment management with its origins dating back to the nineteenth century.  The sector encompasses a broad mix of large institutional and smaller employee-owned businesses that deliver a wide variety of innovative investment services to institutional and personal clients around the world.  The quality of investment management expertise available has led to a robust growth of boutique firms and new business start-ups in the sector in Scotland.

Key facts

• The majority of these firms have their global or UK headquarters in Scotland employing over 3,300 people in Scotland and over 13,000 worldwide.
• Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) investment management member companies manage around £429 billion in Scotland.
• SFE member companies manage over £580 billion of funds directly from Scotland, most of which are managed by companies within the investment management sector.
• Our investment management member companies manage around £468 billion in Scotland, of which £251 billion is invested in equities, some £135 billion in bonds, around £28 billion in property and over £30 billion in cash. Over £21 billion is invested elsewhere.
• The Investment Trust movement was pioneered by a Scotsman, Robert Fleming of Dundee, somewhat overshadowed by his grandson, Ian Fleming, the novelist and creator of James Bond.

Asset servicing

Since the early 1980s, Scotland has rapidly established itself as a centre of excellence in asset servicing and has become an important operating base for many world leaders in this area. In recent times this sector has been a key driver of employment growth within Scotland’s financial services industry.

Key facts

• The asset management and securities broking sector in Scotland accounts for 11 per cent of Scottish financial services employment.
• Global asset servicing companies with an operation in Scotland include Bank of New York Mellon, BNP Paribas Securities Services, Citi, State Street Corporation, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.
• Business activities delivered by asset servicing companies from Scotland include custody, securities servicing, investment accounting, performance measurement, trustee and depositary services, treasury services, shareholder services and compliance.