Boutique advisory firm Freeman & Co has become the third investment bank in as many months to predict an increase in mergers and acquisitions in the asset management industry, despite activity in the first half of the year being almost two-fifths lower than at the same point in 2008.

Freeman & Co's comments, published this week in their regular "Asset Management Focus", follow those of investment banking boutique Jefferies Putnam Lovell in July and of Citigroup this week, which both said they anticipate an uptick in asset management M&A.