Business Divisions

Asset management is an integral component of the Sal. Oppenheim business model. The two units institutional and private asset management have been bundled in the core business area of our integrated asset management and investment bank. The business area has not been untouched by the turbulence on the financial markets and charted a course of consolidation in view of the persisting uncertainty regarding the further development of the global market and economic environment. Assets under management amounted to around € 132 billion at the end of 2008. In order to mitigate the effects of the financial and confidence crisis for our clients as well as possible, Sal. Oppenheim reacted systematically by extending asset diversification opportunities, applying a more defensive investment strategy and expanding the advisory service and product offerings.

When Asset Management and Private Banking were combined into an integrated Asset Management division in 2007, the investment competencies in all asset classes were bundled in the Investment Policy Committee (IPC). On the basis of investment process results from institutional asset management, the IPC prepares short-term market forecasts for the most important asset classes and uses them to make tactical investment decisions.

The major losses suffered on the capital markets however hardly permitted any positive securities account development, particularly in the second half of 2008. In light of this, the conservative positioning with which we started 2008 proved to be the right choice. By reducing our equity exposure during the course of the year, we were able to mitigate the losses in the mixed portfolios, especially in the crash months October and November. In our economic analysis, we revised the economic forecasts downward at a relatively early stage. Thus we painted a considerably more pessimistic economic picture than the market average, judging by the consensus data, and structured our portfolios more defensively.