Outlook

30 April 2013

While market participants showed renewed interest early in the first quarter, events in Europe served as a reminder that many of the underlying challenges related to structural issues remain unsolved. The absence of further sustained and credible improvements to the eurozone sovereign debt situation, European banking system issues, ongoing geopolitical risks, and the outlook for growth in the global economy together with an increasing focus on unresolved US fiscal issues would continue to exert a strong influence on client confidence, and thus activity levels, in the second quarter of 2013. It would make further improvements in prevailing market conditions unlikely and would consequently generate headwinds for revenue growth, net interest margins and net new money. Nevertheless, we remain confident that our asset-gathering businesses as a whole will continue to attract net new money, reflecting our clients’ steadfast trust in the firm. We are confident that the actions we have taken will ensure the firm’s long-term success and will deliver sustainable returns for our shareholders going forward.