Assets Fall At Australian Bank

Rachel Walsh

23 January 2009

Commonwealth Bank of Australia said its funds under management fell 11.9 per cent in the last quarter of 2008 as financial market volatility took its toll.

The Australian equities portion of CBA’s funds under management registered the biggest decline, falling to $10.98 billion from $13.48 billion in the September quarter, the bank said.

The lender said its wholesale funds, mostly managed by fund management arm Colonial First State Global Asset Management, saw outflows of A$7.6 billion ($4.91 billion).

The bank said in a statement that the outflow was primarily due to those funds shifting out of short-term money market related investments into other asset classes which were seen offering better value after big falls amid the global financial crisis.

"In contrast to the cashflow movement in cash mandates, our wholesale pooled cash funds continued to enjoy strong inflow over the quarter," a CBA spokeswoman told Reuters.

Colonial First State's Wholesale Cash Fund rose from A$5.6 billion to A$6.5 billion, the spokeswoman said.

Earlier this week, CBA’s chief executive Ralph Norris named Ian Narev, currently group head of strategy, as group executive of its business and private banking divisions. Mr Narev will start his new role from 27 January 2009; his replacement has not yet been named.