Royal bank Coutts risks backlash as it plans to move £2billion of clients' ... trends now
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Elite private bank Coutts has said it wants to take an estimated £2billion of clients' funds out of the London stock market and put it into foreign company shares.
The royal bank, which is almost 30 per cent owned by taxpayers, said its 'home bias' towards UK shares was an 'anachronism' requiring 'fundamental change'.
The move is another blow for the City and also risks the spotlight being put back on Coutts after the infamous 'debanking' row with politician Nigel Farage in July 2023.
Speaking at a Coutts in Conversation event earlier this week, the bank's chief investment officer Fahad Kamal said: 'Currently, about 20 per cent of a standard balanced portfolio here is UK stocks, which is something of an anachronism.
'It would be closer to 3 per cent or 4 per cent if it were more commensurate with the proportion of UK stocks in global stock markets. So this is a recalibration.'
He added that the firm would be 'adjusting our compass accordingly', with the cash shifted from six Coutts UK equity and bond funds to more world-focused schemes.
An extraordinary row between politician Nigel Farage (pictured) and NatWest broke out last summer after his account with Coutts – which is owned by the lender - was closed
Former NatWest chief executive Alison Rose (pictured) was forced to quit after admitting to telling a BBC journalist that Nigel Farage's account was shut down for commercial reasons
According to the Evening Standard, Mr Kamal said while the UK market had hardly changed in a century, many companies in the US did not even exist 20 years ago.
And his colleague, multi-asset
