The Australian funds management industry had far less money to take care of at the end of the March quarter, after global equities sank due to the worldwide credit crunch.
Total assets under management (TAUM) for the industry dropped by 9 per cent to $857 billion in the March quarter, according to Morningstar's Market Share Report.
Colonial First State, the country's biggest funds manager, recorded a drop of 6.4 per cent to $117.3 billion in the March quarter.
TAUM of Macquarie Bank, ING and ANZ's joint venture, Challenger Financial Services dropped less than four per cent.
TAUM of Axa Group and Perpetual slumped 12 per cent and 15.1 per cent respectively.
The report surveyed about 100 companies.
The S&P/ASX 200, fell 15.5 per cent to 5355 points in the first quarter, marking its poorest start to a year since its inception in 2000.
The MSCI World Index slumped nearly 10 per cent to 1437 points in the same period.
