Winning asset management and investment strategies

Separation from the pack: Successful financial management

The last time the industry experienced this kind of disruption was during the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007–2009. In the decade that followed, we witnessed a critical shift in the competitive landscape that we had not seen before in the asset management industry: a select group of winning firms using the crisis as an opportunity to separate themselves from the pack. Our research suggests there is much to be learned from this era. Our aim is to isolate the strategies that winning firms deployed and provide a useful framework to guide asset management executives today as they look toward the next decade.

The GFC: An industry inflection point

We analyzed 50 of the largest asset managers globally in the decade following the GFC. This group represented slightly more than 55% of the industry’s total revenues as of year-end 2009 and grew to slightly more than 60% by year-end 2019. But an interesting phenomenon, which we did not observe meaningfully in the periods preceding the GFC, emerged clearly in the research: Winning firms represented all of the net consolidation gains and then some. Winning firms—which we define as those that grew net new revenues (revenues associated with positive net flows) at a rate greater than the industry average for the 10-year period and amounted to about 20 firms in total—grew their total industry revenue share from 24% to 32%. These firms also exhibited superior financial performance in other critical metrics that have helped separate them from the pack—they grew annual dollar profits at a 10% rate (versus 8% for others in the sample) over the 10-year period, exhibited 1.3 times higher productivity (as measured by revenue per full-time equivalent) as of year-end 2019, and invested 2% more of their revenues each year in technology as of year-end 2021. Interestingly, winning firms varied in size and type—alternatives, passive, fixed income, and solutions-focused firms, for example, were all represented.

Three Essential Ingredients for Success

1. Effective investment in growth
2. Modernization of operating models
3. Successful financial management

These three ingredients for success will remain largely the same in the coming decade. However, the best playbooks for the next decade will need to account for both the changing competitive landscape that has emerged since the GFC and the unique changes in the current operating environment. We are facing a very different investment environment, and business models are being redefined: Cultures are adapting to the emerging hybrid work environment, operating models are being reimagined, and deglobalization and fragmented regulation increasingly challenge firms’ legacy models. These changes present an opportunity for managers to recalibrate their strategy and define how they will compete to win in the next decade.

Capitalizing on disruption

The decade following the GFC permanently rearranged the asset management industry’s competitive landscape. A select group of firms demonstrated that acting boldly and decisively was a winning formula. But future success for these same firms is hardly a foregone conclusion—investors’ needs change, and their search for the best products, solutions, and partners is constant. The firms that best execute on building visions with enduring competitive advantage, investing successfully in targeted growth areas, modernizing their operating models to deliver outstanding client experiences, and leveraging strong financial management disciplines will be the asset management industry’s winners in the next decade.