CLO Newsletter
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Structural Shifts in the Asset Management Industry [] Posted by Vikas Verma on Sun, Nov 11, 2012 @ 09:26 PM There were many fall outs from the unprecedented US housing market collapse and 2008 Credit Crisis – a liquidity crunch, recession, the closure of centuries-old financial institutions, the rapid erosion of investor’s wealth, and job losses of 8.8 million between 2007 and 2009 (source Bureau of Labor Statistics). Job losses in 2008 alone exceeded 2.6 million - the highest level in more than six decades (source: CNN Money http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/09/news/economy/jobs_december). One of the biggest fall outs of the Credit Crisis was the erosion of investor’s confidence in the professional Asset Management function. The lingering effects of that can be witnessed in the key drivers of the Asset Management business – Net Flows; Active Assets Under Management (AuM); Fee Rates; and the growth rates of Active vs. Passive Products. The Global Asset Management industry continues to witness mounting headwinds. Yes, the post crisis rebound of late 2009 and early 2010 gave a boost to operating margins. However, three out of every four of Global Asset Managers agree that the industry is undergoing fundamental structural changes. Key Challenges and Structural Shifts facing the Asset Management Industry •
Flat AUM - Professionally Managed Assets remain flat at 2007 levels ($58 trillion)
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Declining Net Flows – Net flows averaged 0.2% per annum between 2008 and 2011, compared to an average of 4.7% during 2004 to 2007
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Increasing trend of ‘In-Sourcing’ - An analysis of 50 global institutional investors shows that investors have brought ~$65 billion worth of AuM inhouse in last 18 months
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Rising Regulatory Management Cost – Operating margins will continue to erode due to the implementation of current and evolving regulatory requirements (Dodd Frank, FATCA, MiFid, others)
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Growing significance of Emerging Markets - Allocation to emerging markets has doubled in the last six years. Substantial diversity exists in political and business environments among Emerging Markets – this requires strong local operational expertise to generate Alpha
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Shifting investor preferences from ‘Active’ to ‘Passives’ and Alternatives - Actively managed professional assets are declining. Passive Asset Management products grew five times as fast as ‘Actives’ in the last seven years (2004-2011). The allocation to Alternatives has been steadily growing since 2008.
A number of the above changes are structural and will have a long term impact on Investment Management firms’ operating model. We believe that tomorrow’s winners will do a thorough reassessment of business models, customer acquisition and retention practices, operating capabilities and governance frameworks. In the next post, I will discuss the ‘best practices’ that some of the best-in-class companies are deploying. Also, look forward to a future post on what could be the ‘next practices’ for the Asset Management industry – an industry in rapid change and transition. written by Vikas Verma