Financial Services

Asset management

Edinburgh is a global hub for asset management, with around 7,000 people working in the sector. Aberdeen Group - one of the world's largest asset managers, with around £500 billion of assets under management (AUM) - has its global headquarters in Edinburgh, as do Baillie Gifford (over £197 billion of AUM), Walter Scott & Partners (over $78 billion USD of AUM), Artemis Fund Managers (over £23 billion of AUM), and Martin Currie (over $17 billion of AUM).  

BlackRock, the world's largest fund manager, has an office in Edinburgh employing hundreds of people in functions including portfolio management, client operations, and risk analytics. Other major asset managers with a presence in Edinburgh include Aegon Asset Management, Cazenove Capital (Schroders), Columbia Threadneedle Investments, First Sentier Investors, Franklin Templeton, M&G, Nikko Asset Management, Quilter Cheviot, and Rathbones.

"We now have almost full front to back coverage here, from portfolio management, through operations, accounting, finance and HR, with a large and growing data and tech presence."

– Scott Walker, Managing Director - Global Head of Institutional Accounting & Fund Oversight, BlackRock

Edinburgh is also home to numerous other homegrown asset managers including Amati Global Investors, Aubrey Capital Management, Brooks Macdonald, Edinburgh Partners, Kennox, Murray Asset Management, and SVM Asset Management, along with a large number of wealth management and private banking firms. 

Specialist suppliers in Edinburgh include Substantive Research (which provides research tools for asset managers). Fintech companies in Edinburgh active in the asset management sector include the Swiss company Tindeco (the developer of the VISION CORE Technologies investment management platform and other products for asset managers) and the American company Abacus Group (a provider of IT solutions for alterative investment firms). 

The Centre for Investing Innovation - a partnership between Aberdeen Group and the University of Edinburgh - is based in Edinburgh.

Asset servicing

Edinburgh is also a hub for asset servicing. BNY Mellon, Citi, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and State Street all have major asset servicing centres in the city providing services including fund accounting, custody, financial reporting, and investor services, while the financial administration company Computershare has its Global Technology Centre in Edinburgh.

"Given its importance as a regional financial centre, Edinburgh presented itself as a logical next step in our ambitious global growth programme."

– Steve Georgala, Chief Executive, Maitland 

Companies with a base in Edinburgh include Multrees Investor Services (a provider of custody, investment administration, and technological services), FNZ (a provider of outsourced wealth management services including investment administration, trade execution, settlement, and client management), wrap platform provider Nucleus (James Hay Partnership), and NCM (a supplier of specialised accounting, administration, and regulatory services).

"Our commitment to Scotland is unwavering. The business has thrived here over the last decade-and-a-half, thanks to the combination of talent, customers and infrastructure we have been able to access, and Scotland will be central to the next phase of our global growth over the next 15 years and beyond."

– Adrian Durham, Chief Executive, FNZ