The Swiss firm believes that the strong performance in the sector was due to positive market and foreign exchange movements.

Swiss firm GAM Holding’s private labelling segment reported a 13 per cent rise in assets under management in the first half of 2017, up from SFr52.2 billion ($53.9 billion) in December 2016 to SFr59.1 billion.

The firm said the rise was driven by net inflows of SFr4.5 billion, and a net positive impact from market and foreign exchange movements; these brought in SFr2.1 billion, the firm said.

According to GAM, "GAM private labelling is the largest bank independent third party fund solution provider in Europe".

Underlying profit before tax at the group rose 37 per cent year-on-year to reach SFr75.4 million. Net profit increased 27 per cent to SFr67.7 million.

The group's AuM rose 9 per cent to SFr131.1 billion in H1 2017, from SFr120.7 in December 2016.

"Our financial results are beginning to reflect all our work to implement a turnaround at GAM,” said Alexander Friedman, group chief executive. “The steps we have taken over the past two years are showing tangible results, and the outlook gives us confidence in the future performance of the business.”

He added: “Our net inflows were strong in the first half of this year, the investment performance of the majority of our assets under management was excellent, a number of our key investment strategies delivered good performance fees, and our profitability improved substantially compared with the first half of 2016. We are well underway in positioning GAM for long-term growth, and our focus on disciplined execution of our strategy and operating efficiency is unrelenting."