Around 80,000 Scots held foreign investment assets in the early 20th century.

Analysts said silver had also lost its appeal as an investment asset.

Customers' investment assets had shrunk to $36.3 billion from $61.3 billion a year earlier.

It measures the risk-adjusted return of an investment asset, portfolio or strategy.

Financial assets represent the other main category of investment assets.

For investment assets which are commodities, such as gold and silver, storage costs must also be considered.

Companies and institutional investors with at least US$25 million in investment assets also qualified.

The decision will enable individuals to emerge from bankruptcy with investment assets intact.

They have a total of 130 employees and manage investment assets of $9 billion, he said.

It will have more than $100 billion in investment assets under management.