Six centuries after the legendary Dick Whittington arrived there to make his fortune, London is still the city where great fortunes are made. In a surprising sequel to the Libor scandal, the UK capital has been voted the most attractive financial centre in The Banker’s 2012 global asset management survey. The Banker’s survey, based on interviews with nearly 60 firms, which between them manage more than $19,000bn in assets, clearly shows that rather than losing ground to other financial centres, London is becoming more attractive as an operational centre for global asset management.
Despite the fact that the survey was conducted at a time when there was daily international media coverage of widespread irregularities in the calculation of Libor rates, the dominant view among the world’s asset management community is that the streets of London are still paved with gold. When asked why London is so attractive, its business environment, its human resources and its proximity to global financial markets were the three most cited responses.
