Evelyn Partners' Park: Higher UK valuations could further weaken wealth manager home bias

M&A not enough to revive the market

The current home bias among UK wealth management firms is set to continue to fall over time, and even accelerate if valuations surge, Evelyn Partners’ chief asset management officer Edward Park said.

Before the Global Financial Crisis, the UK accounted for around 11% of the MSCI World index, but this has since dropped to less than 4%. Despite this, many British wealth manager portfolios still have significant overweight positions in domestic equities. Last month, Coutts, the private bank owned by state-backed NatWest, faced criticism after informing clients it would be implementing a "fundamental change" to its investment strategy by shifting away from its UK home bias.  The pivot will result in at least £2bn of Coutts' £43bn portfolio being reallocated to global equities, with a ...