UK financial services optimism slumps to nine-year low on Brexit concerns

CBI/PwC survey for Q4 2016

Pessimism among financial services companies increased in the last quarter of 2016, according to the latest CBI/PwC Financial Services Survey, marking the longest period of declining sentiment in the sector since the 2008 financial crisis.

However, despite particular negativity among banks, general insurers, and finance houses, the quarterly survey of 103 firms found investment managers were more optimistic than three months earlier. Nine out of ten firms saw preparing for the impact of Brexit as the number one challenge for financial services groups in 2017, with other concerns including the need to intensify communication with regulators in response to the shock referendum result, as well as dealing with macroeconomic uncertainty. The survey found business volumes were flat in the last quarter of 2016, with 19% of fir...