Wealth managers succeeded in protecting clients’ money against market turmoil in the first quarter of this year but failed to provide a positive return for the fifth consecutive quarter, according to the latest Private Client Indices (PCI) produced by Asset Risk Consultants.

Average losses ranged from 1.2 per cent for “cautious” portfolios to 5.9 per cent for higher volatility “equity risk” portfolios in the three months to the end of March, the performance management firm said. Balanced portfolios – those with 50 per cent in non-equity assets – were down 3.2 per cent on average. In comparison the FTSE 100 fell by 10.79 per cent over the same period.