The UK’s asset management industry can, should and will be able to continue to serve thousands of European customers in the future, trade body the Investment Association said this week.

The group’s latest survey shows that the UK continues to lead when it comes to investing money from foreign clients, managing £1trn of overseas-domiciled funds at the end of 2015 (£895bn in 2014).

At the end of last year the industry managed £1.2trn for clients in Europe, in funds and investment mandates, representing nearly 40% of total European assets which is more than the French, German and Italian industries combined.

Moreover, ownership of UK based asset managers is also increasingly international. US owned firms operating in the UK now account for 47% of the industry's assets under management.

The future of the industry post-Brexit

In a statement, The Investment Association added that the UK's investment management industry plays a vital role for consumers both domestically and across Europe. 

As well as providing vital products and services for savers across the world, the industry plays a crucial role in funding businesses and the economy as a whole through tax revenues, job creation and economic stability and growth. 

"The investment industry has benefited from the free movement of people across the EU and continued access to talent globally is of utmost importance if the industry is going to continue to prosper," the IA added. 

“We estimate that over 92,000 people are now employed in activities related either directly or in-directly to asset management, including fund and wider administration activities."

People directly employed by the industry in the UK grew 5% from 35,100 to 37,000 in 2015. 

Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, said: "By serving as a 'turntable of capital', the investment hub enables its clients to benefit from economies of scale and unrivalled investment expertise while also providing lifeblood funding for capital markets in the UK and globally. 

"In the last year the UK's investment hub has become an even more global entity and that brings direct benefits to the UK economy, including contributing to net exports, employing tens of thousands of people and fueling British business.

"The industry is now considering the ramifications of Brexit in earnest and the focus must be on seizing the opportunities that are being presented to continue to grow the UK's investment hub globally.