Asset and Wealth Management Insights

Challenges and Opportunities

Regulatory pressures, more demanding clients, and technological changes continue to reshape the asset and wealth management industry across its many different facets. Whilst challenges persist, many opportunities still exist in such a dynamic environment. 

In this selection of papers, several examine the future of wealth management and identify key trends that are likely to define tomorrow’s successful businesses. GSAM’s paper investigates measures designed to increase gender diversity among asset managers, whilst the RBC/Campden Wealth report looks at the evolving investing intentions of more than 170 North American family offices. Investment marketers may wish to peruse the CopyLab paper for additional insights into what works well in institutional investment marketing.

The Future of Advice and Wealth Management (EY, 2022)

EY looks at how the wealth management industry is likely to evolve given an ever-increasing focus on costs. They see four key themes that will redefine industry practice and drive the industry towards new models. 

Benefits of Scale Economies in U.S. Asset Management (BlackRock, 2022)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in the United States

BlackRock highlights the democratisation of financial markets using professionally managed funds, particularly in U.S. markets where 100 million Americans participate in equity and bond markets via the use of collective schemes. The costs of trading have drastically fallen too. 

The North America Family Office Report 2021 (RBC & Campden Wealth)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies

This RBC/Campden Wealth Report shares insights obtained from more than 170 family offices across North America into how they are allocating capital in both public and private markets, how strategies have evolved and where they think the most attractive risk-adjusted growth opportunities lie. 

Podcast: The evolving global wealth management industry (Money Maze, 2022)

In this podcast, David Durlacher, CEO of Julius Baer International, deliberates on the evolution of the global wealth industry, and how the offerings for clients have changed over time to meet an increasingly diverse set of needs. 

U.S. Wealth Management: A growth agenda (McKinsey & Company, 2022)

McKinsey sees the U.S. wealth industry as one which is a growth industry, driven in part by demographic change, but which also faces several accelerating disruptions, including from digital advice.

A New Asset Class: Asset servicing of DeFi (State Street, Mar 2022)

More asset managers are offering digital asset investment products, but for regulatory reasons, some of these products cannot invest in crypto currencies or be marketed as collective investments. State Street offers insights into these and other aspects of decentralised finance, its regulatory challenges, and the range of securities market opportunities that exist.

Causality Techniques in Investment Management (Enterprising Investor blog, 2022)

CFA Institute’s Enterprising Investor blog analysed nearly 200 recent journal articles covering causality in capital markets, and looks at how the findings can be applied to financial markets, particularly through behavioural finance, and how correlation and probability should not imply causation. 

March of the Women: Increasing diversity in asset management (GSAM, 2022)

In this paper, Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) explores how various segments of the asset management industry can improve their structure to create greater opportunities for gender diversity within the workforce. 

Are Fund Managers Rewarded for Taking Cyclical Risks? (ECB, 2022)

This European Central Bank paper examines the growth in the investment fund industry from 2008-2009 and illustrates the widespread risk-taking incentives that exist, noting that synchronised cyclical risk taking may have systemic effects. 

Strategies for Engaging With Asset Managers for Impact (GIIN, 2022)

This paper from GIIN attempts to address a current gap – a dearth of market knowledge amongst asset owners and asset managers on impact investing. They suggest that institutional asset owners could be investing their money for greater impact, if only they had access to more information to enable a dialogue between asset owner and asset manager on the alignment of impact strategies. 

Thought Leadership In Asset Management (CopyLab, 2022)

CopyLab outlines what institutional thought leadership should mean for marketing departments and offers suggestions on how to execute it well and what to avoid.