A Platform for Growth

Transcription

1 A Platform for Growth It is time to take stock. After the traumas of the past year, which have seen revenues fall by up to 40 per cent at some long-only asset managers and by a lot more at many hedge funds, the investment management industry is regrouping and rebuilding. Over three articles, we attempt to answer the question Where next? by setting down an agenda for change. In the first article, we look at the most pressing issues that investment managers need to face in the new environment. Is the business model broken? If so, how can it be fixed? Article two analyses where tomorrow s business will come from and asks where the most promising fund flows are. Our third article focuses on the hedge fund industry. Attitudes to risk have changed how should firms respond?

2 Where Next for the Investment Management Industry? Costs, scale, structure, product range, geography all of these factors are now being reviewed by investment managers in the search for a business model that will carry them through difficult times. We look at the most pressing issues that firms must address. It is never easy to make sense of a sudden market upheaval while the aftershocks are still being felt. But throughout the investment management industry, there is a growing consensus that the business model needs revisiting. It may have worked well enough in a growth market; it is questionable whether it is fit for purpose in one that is static or contracting. A collapse in assets, and therefore revenues, has been accompanied by a major change in attitudes on the part of end-customers. Priorities have shifted. Safety and transparency now come before performance for many investors. Trust is at a low ebb. Clients have now been through two seismic shocks this decade, says Amin Rajan, CEO, CREATE Research. It is going to take years for them to recoup their money. Firms must respond to what is a completely new marketplace one that seeks quality, simplicity and safety above all else. Says Jervis Smith, Managing Director, Global Head of Client Executive for Citi s Global Transaction Services: The appetite for investment products has collapsed. Good client service will now be paramount if firms are to regain investors trust. But the key to making money will be to have a business model that recognises the changed realities. So how do firms go about putting such a model in place? Implement Strategies for the Times The firms that will succeed in the new marketplace will either have genuine scale or will be highly focused, boutique players with something very special to offer, says Mr Smith. Firms must decide where they sit on that spectrum. The wave of mergers among asset managers that started last year is set to continue as weaker players are absorbed. In the hedge fund market, a record number have been shutting up shop. Many firms are rightly looking to rationalise and merge product ranges to create efficiencies, says Catherine Brady, Head of Investor Services EMEA, Global Transaction Services, Citi. Firms are going back to basics and focusing on core expertise. Sub-scale products are being liquidated or merged. This has been very noticeable over the last quarter. Says Mr Rajan: It is important to look at the product base and mix. There are too many products with bells and whistles that will not make money. Investors want simplicity and capital protection above all else. Ms Brady agrees: We are seeing a return to conservative asset classes. Investors are looking for lowerpriced investment products such as ETFs, money-market funds and other index funds. They are not convinced that when they pay for alpha they actually get it. Clearly, the winning strategies will be those that focus on products delivering consistent, positive and absolute returns. Risk-weighted returns will become more important for institutional money, as will liquidity. In the hedge fund market, the ability to offer separately managed accounts will become increasingly important. Ms Brady notes another trend: The traditional divide between longonly and hedge fund managers is rapidly disappearing. Long-only managers used to have to work hard to prevent their best managers from defecting to become hedge fund managers. Now the hedge funds are as likely to hire them to do long-only management, she says. Consolidation to bring the two sides of the industry together is accelerating. Citi has been working with its clients to meet this trend head on. Its range of custody and fund administration services has the breadth and depth to support any strategy shift. It will accommodate any product structure or investment instrument in both the long-only and hedge fund markets. Get on Top of Risk, Provide Transparency As recent surveys from the likes of SEI Knowledge Partnership and Edhec have demonstrated, investors have major reservations about hedge funds portfolio transparency, operational quality and reporting.

3 For US firms that self-administer, this is a particularly acute issue, and, in the post-madoff world, full trust will not return until there is clear separation of duties. However, most hedge funds face similar challenges (see A New Environment for Hedge Funds on page 10). Step one must be to ring-fence assets effectively. Several of the leading prime brokers are already taking steps to provide special purpose vehicles to segregate client assets. But the safest approach is to place unencumbered assets with a custodian. Says Mr Smith: Now that so many hedge firms have deleveraged, they are questioning why they need a prime broker. Step two is for hedge funds to come out of the unregulated cold. One route being taken by many is to set up UCITS III vehicles, which enjoy the protection of an independent administrator and custodian and typically offer investors much improved liquidity. Within their funds, managers need to demonstrate that they have taken a proactive approach to managing their cash holdings to minimise counterparty risk. And they need to adopt a new approach to client service that delivers full transparency. Citi has been assisting hedge funds in achieving these goals. As both a custodian and prime broker, it is a pioneer in prime custody. While allowing for the easy movement of assets between the two areas, depending on a fund s need for borrowing, it delivers integrated reporting. Firms can go multi-prime and enjoy the same reporting benefits. Citi s firms have also been utilising cash management solution with a range of automated tools that allow firms to optimise returns in a structured environment where risk is controlled and visibility maximised. Reduce Costs, Achieve Efficiencies Numerous firms have responded to falling revenues by shrinking middle- and back-office headcounts. However, operational risks may intensify while the cost base remains inflexible. By contrast, outsourcing either part or all of the administrative burden introduces a variable cost base linked to volumes, removes the need for further systems investments and frees up management to focus on activities that add value like product development, marketing and performance. In certain areas, the fall-off in activity provides a breathing space for firms to reassess their involvement in manually intensive functions. One example is the processing of Over-the-Counter (OTC) derivatives. Transaction volumes in the more complex instruments have fallen and a lot of people are now asking themselves whether they should be doing the processing at all, says Bernard Hanratty, Head of Fund Services EMEA for Citi s Global Transaction Services. For the many firms that have grown through acquisition in recent years, rationalisation of operating models has often been deferred while growth targets were pursued. Rationalisation should wait no longer. Firms need globally or regionally consistent models that make the most of their scale. Asset pooling is another way of making scale pay by giving a manager one portfolio to manage rather than many. Commingling solutions are now available that allow pensions, insurance and retail fund assets to be brought together irrespective of home country. With nine fund administration centres worldwide linked by a common operating platform, Citi can provide a complete global, regional or product-based administration solution for long-only or alternative asset management firms. At the same time, its suite of middle- and backoffice services can be delivered on Good client service will now be paramount if firms are to regain investors trust. But the key to making money will be to have a business model that recognises the changed realities. a modular basis, allowing managers to outsource components of their administration while still retaining an in-house capability. Its OTC transaction-processing skills are supported by a market-leading complex-pricing team. Citi has also led in the development of advanced asset pooling and aggregation techniques to facilitate the effective management of multiple funds, creating structures that not only improve efficiency but also provide a platform for the effective launch of new international products. Exploit Global Opportunities While the demand for equity investment products in the developed markets of Europe and North America has collapsed in

4 the past year, the interest from developing markets, particularly those of Asia, remains relatively robust, and the outlook in these markets is positive (see Where Are Tomorrow s Fund Flows? on page 6). No business strategy is complete without an Asia component, says Mr Smith: But to be effective it must include support for the local sales force. some functional areas? Are there opportunities for new efficiencies through asset pooling? Firms prepared to take a long, hard look at not just the economics of their business but their entire operational approach will be best placed to exploit the opportunities when the good times return. With its global service model and on-the-ground presence in all the main markets, Citi can facilitate a product marketing strategy in any region of the world. A robust, global platform built around key centres of excellence in multiple time zones provides 24/7 transaction processing and consistent data delivery. Local presence and skills can be combined with this global platform to provide tailored support to local distributors while ensuring full visibility and control back at head office. In conclusion, firms need to respond to the changed circumstances with more than knee-jerk cost-cutting. They need to reassess the entire business model. They need to ask themselves a series of questions. Is the product portfolio attuned to the times? Can we rationalise the range of funds to focus on key competencies and deliver better performance and client service? Do we have the scale to succeed in today s world? If so, are we optimally structured to exploit that scale or positioned properly to make the most of our market niche? Have we responded adequately to investor demands for asset protection and transparency? Above all, firms need to review their operational approach. Is in-house administration still viable or even desirable? What is truly core and what is not? Is there merit in moving from a fixed to a variable cost base at least in

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