Although the asset management industry has come under increasing scrutiny since the financial crisis it still remains poorly understood and investment scandals continue to headline in the financial press. Whereas most literature on the industry focuses on the technical end – how managers invest and what tips others can glean – this book explores the way these businesses operate as businesses and how they make their money.
The book explains how the industry is organized, how firms generate revenues through various types of fund, fees and charges and what cost pressures they face. It investigates the nature of their client relationships, the role played by star investors and the requirement for firms to integrate non-financial considerations into their investment process. The inherent tensions and potential conflicts of interest within asset managers that seek to keep both clients and shareholders happy is also examined. The book concludes by considering how the industry is evolving, the role of regulation and where it is struggling to change.
Suitable for students of business and finance, those working in allied areas of the finance sector, and for anyone with a general interest in how financial institutions and markets operate, the book offers readers a balanced and incisive guide to the economics of an industry that globally controls more than $100 trillion of financial assets and a critical appraisal of the sector’s future.
Upon reading this book I have a holistic and comprehensive understanding of how the fund management industry works. As a person not in the asset management field, but with a general interest to know how fund management functions and operates ... without drilling into the technical details of investment, I like the way the book guides readers to learn about this industry from its organization and business model to the underlying functions including managing money & fund managers, regulations & responsibilities, sales & products, and fees & charging. The data and examples, institutions and regulatory bodies referred to in the book covers the UK, Europe in addition to the US.