(by Geck Finn)

Assets under the management of the biggest fund management companies rose as much as 22% to $43.3 trillion last year.

"Three years of falling markets forced many managers to cut costs and streamline their businesses," Nick Watts, head of European investment consulting at Watson Wyatt said. "But market conditions during 2003 meant a reversal of fortunes for many asset managers, particularly at specialist houses," he added.

In Britain top fund managers active equity houses saw growth of between 80% and 96%.

This is the first success in several years. The top 20 fund firms accounted for 37% of assets.