UK-based private bank Cater Allen, a division of Spain’s Santander, has reported deposits above £5 billion ($10.1 billion) for the first time in its 190-year history as investors have moved into cash. Assets have grown 25 per cent in the past 18 months alone, after the bank passed the £4 billion mark in December 2005, following significant investment from its parent company. Managing director Richard Dunn said: “As the base rate has risen a cash element has formed a larger part of portfolios and been a starting point for growing deposits.” Intermediary sales were increasingly important for performance, said Dunn, with the proportion of business conducted through advisers up from 70 per cent to 90 per cent since 2003.