Nicolas Moreau’s summary replacement as the head of Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm today is just the latest sign of pressures facing Europe’s asset managers, especially those with global ambitions.
European banks are increasingly turning to asset management to shore up their returns, as the business requires less capital than more traditional banking activities. Deutsche Bank is a case in point, with asset management core to Christian Sewing’s plan to reduce the firm’s reliance on more volatile investment banking and markets revenues, the latter being businesses where it is even harder for Europeans to compete.
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Nicolas Moreau |
DWS’s IPO this March should have drawn useful attention to this valuable part of Deutsche’s franchise. It is one of the few areas in which the bank has a commanding market share in Germany, about 25%.
However, poor performing funds in Germany contributed to outflows in the second quarter, further weighing on a share price that has steadily declined since the IPO. At the same time, Deutsche’s market share and image is much less robust in the US than Germany.
Outflows of €2.7 billion in the third quarter – mainly due to the US business – ultimately spelled the end for Moreau, following outflows of €4.9
