Rothschild’s future uncertain in shaky financial sector

London’s Sunday Times reports the Rothschild Asset Management has been hit adversely by the recent weakness of the world’s stock markets.

In fact, the blow taken by the investment arm of the Rothschild banking family leading it into a potentially painful strategic review that could lead it to being put up for sale in the near future.

However, what impact a potential sale of Rothschild Asset Management would have on local fund manager, Valletta Fund Management, is so far unclear.

Rothschild Asset Management currently owns 40 per cent of Malta’s first fund management firm, with Bank of Valletta holding the remaining 60 per cent.

Although Rothschild Asset Management manages funds in the region of GBP15 million in total, the firm is still comparatively small when measured against the likes of Merrill Lynch and Amvescap and it reportedly fears that it will face an increasingly uphill struggle to grow in the new and more challenging financial market that has been created in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Centre.