The portfolio management market - Portugal

Asset management is mostly realized by large banking groups, mainly retail banks (CGD, Santander, BCP, etc.) or investment banks (Banco BIG, BankInter, Finantia, etc.), or insurance groups. Independent consulting firms, which were already present in the past, have recently experienced strong growth rates thanks to digital technologies, in particular thanks to the arrival of "Robo -advisors" on the market. In Portugal, where growth rates have been substantial since the recovery from the debt crisis in 2011, the net wealth per family increased by 13.2% in average terms between 2013 and 2017. [Inquérito à Situação Financeira das Famílias] With Portuguese people accumulating more and more resources, there is space for the demand of asset managing services to grow. The Portuguese market is characterized by a vast dominance of discretionary mandates in comparison with other European countries. [European Fund and Asset Management Association] This is because most financial services groups operate an asset management company, which manages the group’s assets generally in the way of discretionary mandates. In this context, some of the main asset management companies in Portugal, that are not subsidiaries of any bank, are Atrium, Dunas Capital and Lynx Asset Managers. Those players are being forced to adapt to a growing demand for access to sustainable and responsible investments that would help to partially reshape the investment model.