The Continuing Quest for $100 Trillion AuM
How Vendors/Suppliers Can Work to Support the Growing Future of Investment Management Operations
Abstract
As of January 2014, there are more than $100 trillion of investable assets on a worldwide global level. One optimistic growth projection has investable assets reaching $334 trillion by 2018.
New investors are constantly entering the market, and many investors are transitioning from wealth accumulation to de-accumulation distribution, which demands alternative strategies.
This report outlines investment management firms’ “demand” side of investable assets and the operational and technical requirements of servicing the demand. The geographic demographics and growth of the both the buy and sell sides are in flux. Traditional vendors, custodians, fund administrators, universal banking systems, and prime brokers are all in competition to supply operational services for this massive pool of global investable assets.
Investment management operations have been dormant for too long and require reengineering to handle new product, geographic, and regulatory demands. The supply market has broken wide open, with each player verticalizing their offerings to capture market share. Custodians are offering trade desk to settlement services, while vendors are offering managed services. Vendor suppliers are being disrupted by new vendors encroaching from the sell side and derivative markets.
“Even nontraditional competitors such as Google, Amazon, Yahoo, and Facebook now have exploratory ventures in finance. One might be processing all their securities through ‘Googlezon’ in the future. But, for sure, the investment service landscape is in transition, and all suppliers need to know where to expand and invest, and to be aware of looming disruptors,” says Jay Wolstenholme, Senior Analyst with Celent’s Securities & Investments group and author of the report.
This report discusses current market penetration and market participants. Vendor recommendations focusing on investment management operations are presented, as well as the best ways to meet current and future market demands and possible future disruptors.