Other UK cities have the potential to lure asset servicing business; should Scotland be worried?

Scotland has developed a good reputation for asset servicing over the last few years, jobs are being created and new firms continue to set up north of the border. Yet it still lags behind both Ireland and Luxembourg, and could other UK cities yet prove to be a threat?

The Investment Management Association (IMA) believes that, as Europe's biggest centre for asset management, UK should be competing with the likes of Dublin and Luxembourg for asset servicing business and, crucially, attracting large numbers of back office jobs.

"Edinburgh is already well placed to go for it," said Richard Saunders, chief executive of the IMA. "There's no reason why Cardiff, Manchester and Leeds shouldn't too."

There needs to be a "willingness to offer proper incentives" and "some of the entrepreneurial flair that Dublin and Luxembourg have shown".

Scotland has, of course, been offering some incentives - namely money from the Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grants, cheaper operating costs and a concentration of expertise in this area.

The result is that the likes of BlackRock, Bank of New York Mellon, First State Investments and Franklin Templeton have sizable operations north of the border.

BNY Mellon also has an operation in Manchester, so should Scotland be wary of any potential new-comers in the UK?

Alan Thornburrow, chief executive of Scottish Investment Operations, says it's important to be wary of any new competitors, but the cluster of firms in Scotland, which have been increasing their headcount in the last two years, means the country has a good head start.

"It's a sector in which we can justifiably now claim to have expertise, and a number of education initiatives are underway to ensure that the talent here will continue to prove alluring to new companies looking to invest in Scotland," he says.