London-listed Rathbone Brothers, the wealth management house, said its pre-tax profit from continuing operations fell by 9.5 per cent to £42.8 million (around $60 billion) in 2008, while client inflows rose last year.

At Rathbone Investment Management, the asset management arm of the firm, the net organic rate of growth of funds was 7.4 per cent. When acquisitions are included, there were a total of £1.3 billion of inflows, representing a growth rate of 11 per cent.

"Rathbones is well-placed to weather the difficult climate, has a strong balance sheet and is in a good position to take advantage of growth opportunities,” chief executive Andy Pomfret said in a statement.

The firm had borrowings of £9.2 million last year, down from £12.5 million a year before and a £49.6 million capital surplus over its minimum capital requirement of £63.7 million at 31 December 2008, as recently agreed with the Financial Services Authority, the

UK financial regulator.

Rathbone said planned disposals of offshore trust businesses are substantially complete. Rathbones said its exit from this sector “was driven by the changing climate for the use of offshore structures and services, and a belief that these businesses are best owned offshore by their management”.