Boston-based consultancy Cerulli Associates says banks now account for about half of all retail mutual fund sales by assets in Asia ex-Japan, and predicts they may sell up to two-thirds of fund assets by 2008.
Almost every channel is likely to lose market share to the banks, says Shiv Taneja, associate director in London. The exception in some markets such as Singapore may be independent financial advisors, but they will remain too small to make an impact. Unless there is a concerted effort to raise demand for advice and further develop the channel, in ways similar to the experiment currently underway in Singapore, IFAs will always be something of a...
