"It was a really difficult Q4, you can see the results of our peers who have announced (amid) volatile markets," Thiam told Bloomberg Television in an interview from Davos. "Overall things have gotten better since the beginning of the year, 2019 has started better," he added.

Asked whether he was worried about client outflows amid market volatility, he said: "We have seen deleveraging, it was visible a bit in Q3 and Q4, but overall our assets under management have been very resilient."

(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Oliver Hirt)