SUMMARY
The fifth Meeting of Minds Asset Management took place on Thursday 19 September at The Berkeley Hotel, London. This document summarises the key issues raised in the topics discussed during the roundtables that took place on the day.
A Meeting of Minds Asset Management is a biannual strategic forum organised by Owen James.
The half day is a blend of roundtable sessions addressing a pre-researched and pre-agreed agenda with open discussion led by objective and professional moderators; keynotes provided by external speakers whose remit is to spark debate and encourage fresh and original thinking; plus substantial networking both structured and unstructured.
To find out more about taking part, please contact John Hall at johnhall@owenjamesgroup.com or call him on 01483-861334.
THIS REPORT
The roundtable sessions were facilitated by Lansons. This report captures the headline outputs.
THE SPONSORS
We would like to thank our sponsors who made the Meeting of Minds possible. The following companies took part and their motivation for doing so is threefold:
- To be, and be seen as being, supportive of the industry.
- To understand the stresses and strains being placed on financial advisory firms and, where possible, respond to them.
- To talk openly with these business leaders with a view to ensuring that their businesses are strategically aligned.
The Findings
-
Institutional and retail: is this simply a questions of segmentation
There is increasing overlap between wholesale and institutional clients and sales and distribution teams need to be structured to reflect this. The ways in which asset managers categorise clients is evolving. There is no one clear answer, but increasingly, it depends on the complexity of their needs and overall revenue, scale
-
Is ESG investing a case of “Fifty Shades of Green?” As we race to judge a company, are we impacting the World balance? It is a big question?
Investors continue to increase their allocations to ESG – however, due to a lack of criteria and an industry-wide framework to measure ESG, it remains unclear what sustainable investing stands for. Different interpretations of ESG are widespread across the asset management world which increases the risk of greenwashing.
-
Liquidity? Is it currently the most used word within asset management?
The Woodford scandal has prompted a discussion on liquidity and affected the way money managers communicate with clients. RFPs are now focused on liquidity which is the top priority to investors. Asset managers must provide detailed information on what is liquid within their portfolios and how liquidity is delivered.
-
The meaning of life: What is our purpose? What are our clients paying us for?
Considering MIFID II and the requirements for transparent client reporting, revenue dynamics in asset management have changed. The importance of demonstrating value for money throughout the chain has become ever more important, not just through to wealth managers and intermediaries, but also the end customer.
-
What about the changes from within the industry?
The industry has failed to become properly diverse, by gender, ethnicity, and age, and is still failing to properly appeal to women, ethnic minorities and younger people
