The value of continental European investment management firms to their parent banks and insurers could rise by €175 billion (around $250 billion) but their market share will slide without action to stay on top, according to US consultancy Casey Quirk.

Revenues could rise by 24 per cent and fund managers could, if they make improvements, raise inflows of new client money of €2 trillion or more, said the report, entitled Untapped Opportunity: Realizing Value in Continental Europe’s Asset Managers.

According to a separate report on the issue by the Financial Times, Casey Quirk partner Ben Phillips is quoted saying that if Europe’s banks and insurers continue to run their fund management arms as “backwater businesses”, their share of the market in global assets under management will drop from 31 per cent to as little as 21 per cent. Their share in Europe could drop from 72 per cent to 56 per cent.

In the continent of Europe in particular – less so in the UK – the ownership model of fund management has been dominated by banks and insurers. In more recent years, there has been greater preference by investors to put money in stand-alone investment houses.