Reports
Coutts, Adam & Co Largely Shrug Off Pandemic Woes

Assets under management rose from a year earlier; total income held steady over a year ago. The cost/income ratio widened and there was a rise in impairments. Overall, the private banking arm of NatWest managed to ride out the market storms relatively well, its CEO said.
Coutts and Adam & Co, the
private banking businesses of NatWest – previously known as
Royal
Bank of Scotland – logged a 33 per cent jump in gross inflows
in the first six months of this year from a year earlier, at £1.6
billion ($2.1 billion).
Assets under management rose to £27.1 billion at the end of June
this year, against £23.2 billion a year before, NatWest said in a
statement last Friday. Total assets under management and
administration stood at £29.8 billion, slipping from £30.4
billion a year earlier.
Total income rose to £191 million at end-June, unchanged from a
year earlier but dipping from £201 million at 31 March, it said.
Operating costs rose to £129 million from £115 million a year
earlier. Impairment losses were £27 million in Q2, up from £1.0
million a year before.
The private banking arm’s cost/income ratio widened to 67.5 per
cent at end-June from 60.2 per cent a year before.
“For our investment inflows to have improved year-on-year and to
have achieved this level of client growth in such a volatile and
unprecedented environment, is most gratifying,” Peter Flavel, CEO
Private Banking at NatWest, said.
“Despite the challenging circumstances brought about by the
pandemic, I am also most encouraged to report we onboarded more
than 1,500 new Clients in H1 2020,” he said.
More than 40 per cent of the new clients were taken on board in
the second quarter of this year.
“There is no doubt, however, that COVID-19 has had a significant
impact on all financial services businesses, both directly and
through its effect on financial markets,” he added, noting the
impairment charge for the quarter.