Investment Management
Review - Volume 1 : Issue 1
What's in Volume 1 : 1 Issue 1?
Many matters of key strategic significance that top executives need to be aware of are touched on in this issue. These include the following:
Dr Wolfgang Mansfeld, from his vantage position as President of European Fund and Asset Management Association, offers valuable perspectives in ‘10 priorities for the asset management industry’. Some of the issues raised by him may not be of immediate concern to companies, but they are likely to affect all companies in one way or another in terms of developing external pressures from regulators, intermediaries, competitors and customers. The more enlightened companies will do well to anticipate these developments and take the initiative now, rather than just reacting to future events.
Are mutual fund fees too high? Industry opinion is sharply divided on this issue. Strategic Insight, the leading global fund research house, points to several fallacies and misconceptions about the level of fees, and analyses the thorny issue of whether fee levels are on the way down.
In the ferocious fight for market share, choosing the best distribution methods is critical to success. The arguments for and against open architecture and its variants rage fiercely. Two articles analyse the key issues, and examine the viable alternatives.
Portable alpha is talked about as the solution to many institutional investors' performance problem. Is this a wave of the future or just a fad?
During the recent bear market years and subsequently, leading consultancy firms have come up with many prognostications for the fund management industry. Despite the current recovery, much of their thinking remains valid and some key aspects are reviewed.
Boston Consulting Group recently published a report on the state of the global fund management industry, based on a survey of a substantial proportion of that industry. This is reviewed and analysed here.
We look at a ground-breaking report from Lazard and Mercer Oliver Wyman, proposing a new model for the industry, of which many leading firms have already taken note.
In February, Lipper, the leading research subsidiary of Reuters, published their annual report on global themes in fund management. Key highlights are presented here.
As institutional investors move away from mainstream asset classes, the credit derivatives sector is a major beneficiary. Last November's Euromoney conference on this subject is reviewed, along with other recent developments.
There is now a relentless search to provide added value in investment management and new ways of producing alpha are constantly discussed and debated. The magazine covers areas such as the fast-developing credit derivatives sector, portable alpha, investment department structure and particular aspects of the investment process.
There is now a growing doubt as to how much alpha hedge funds do produce. At a CFA Institute conference, this issue was discussed by Laurence B Siegel. The fascinating thesis that alpha becomes beta over time was also covered.
There are articles on the investment process, touching on the structure of investment departments, socially responsible funds, the pros and cons of open-ended versus closed end funds, artificial intelligence and the effectiveness of sell-side research.
Performance issues are dealt with. Some of the most recent academic evidence on the controversial issue of whether good performance persists is examined here.
A new type of index designed to provide effective benchmarks for style funds is described. These are meant to fill an important gap.
ETFs are taking off and the latest situation as charted by Lipper is outlined.
Alternative investments are all the rage and some of the more recent significant developments in hedge funds, private equity and real estate are outlined.
The startling conclusion that technological progress can actually hurt equity values has been presented in a leading journal and is analysed here.
Finally, there are also snippets on various recent developments of long-term significance to the industry..