Institutional Asset Managers - Articles & White Papers

Investment firms face a future in which change is accelerating

In this interactive report, we set out the changing landscape for investment management and analyze how firms can adapt their models to succeed in the future environment. The report is informed by a survey of CFA Institute members. Among those surveyed,…

Fixed-income investing hasn’t kept up with the rapid pace of technological innovation in the rest of the financial industry. But that’s about to change. Machines will empower humans to achieve unique insights and act faster in a market where speed and alpha are inextricably linked.

This PwC report provides interesting and important insights into the asset and wealth management industry today. It outlines four foundations on which managers can build a target operating model to protect or even improve profitability.

The 56-page report has been authored by EY. It examines the disruption and change taking place in the alternative asset management industry industry - from technology, to investor expectations, to evolving talent profile needs.

Baillie Gifford is challenging the investment industry to return to its fundamental purpose, namely deploying clients’ capital into tangible, sustainable activities, allowing companies to grow and prosper over the long term, whilst still generating positive returns for shareholders. ‘Actual’ investment requires a willingness…

Total discretionary Assets under Management (AUM) of the 500 managers included in the ranking amounted to US$ 93.8 trillion at the end of 2017, up 15.6% from the end of 2016. Median AUM was US$ 43.9 billion in 2017, up from US$ 38.6 billion last year. BlackRock has retained its position as the largest asset manager in the…

Investment Association members hold a £7.7 trillion of assets under management. The UK remains the largest asset management centre in Europe, and is globally second only to the United States. This paper provides some important insights into the state and outlook of the industry.

This 12-page paper takes a detailed look at the European asset management industry. It includes interesting and helpful insights into the role of third-party asset managers, assets under management in Europe, clients of the European Asset Management Industry, asset allocation, industrial organization, and more.

Investment management is in flux, arguably more than it has been in a long time. Active management is under pressure, with investors switching from active to index funds. New “smart beta” products offer low-cost exposures to many active ideas. Exchange-traded funds are proliferating. Markets and regulations have changed…

The biggest failure in investment management—the gap between the returns realized by the investor and the returns earned by the strategy or fund the investor owns—typically remains in the shadows with the glare of the spotlights focused on alpha. Smart beta is no exception. The authors propose two ways to reframe the client…

Diversification and rebalancing form the cornerstone of Parametric’s Emerging Markets Strategy. The strategy provides greater country-level diversification by underweighting larger countries, overweighting smaller ones, and systematically rebalancing to maintain this greater level of diversification. We expect that a…

In this fifth annual survey conducted by Kurtosys, we have again asked our expansive audience to help us give some insights into digital marketing trends and perspectives in asset management marketing. The results come from nearly 200 respondents working across a range of global asset management firms, with 72% in a…

As the investment management industry faces an increasingly competitive environment, with margin pressures, technological disruption, and changing consumer preferences, firms must focus on their “people model” as a key part of their strategy. The successful investment firm of the future will be differentiated by its culture…

This paper by EFAMA (the European Fund and Asset Management Association) is the third update to the report that was first published in 2005 to present recommendations to increase efficiency in the processing of fund orders and achieve cost savings. This
latest version, which includes new sections on new technologies,…

To bring more clarity to the question of how FinTech will affect the prospects of financial institutions and careers of other stakeholders, CFA Institute has compiled the report FinTech 2018: The Asia Pacific Edition.

FinTech 2018: The Asia Pacific Edition is composed of three sections. The first covers the various…

Investors looking for returns in fintech should focus on the A-G of developments, Robeco’s trends experts say in a new white paper, ‘Fintech 2.0: From trends to insights’. This updates a previous work on how financial technology is revolutionizing how we conduct banking, consumer payments and financial services.

The…

How different investment strategies across asset classes can contribute to the overall impact of a total portfolio.

Morningstar’s research demonstrates that firms that place their fund shareholders at the center of their decision-making process are best-situated to deliver positive long-term outcomes for investors.1 This report assesses the degree to which the largest sponsors of passively managed U.S. mutual funds and exchange-traded…

The 2018 edition of the RMT included responses from 79 central banks, responsible for 54 per cent of global reserves, and representing a good range in terms of geography, size of holdings and state of economic development

Although responses were affected by market volatility at the time of the survey (February), over…