Picking High-Hanging Fruit: Competition Intensifies between
Asian Managers and Foreign Firms
Asset management opportunities in Asia have received substantial attention in recent years, and for good reason: economic development and population growth have led to an emerging middle class and the expansion of sovereign and corporate pools of assets. Nevertheless, after an initial gold-rush, local and foreign managers have awoken to the sobering reality that Asia is a very complex heterogeneous region.
With this complexity in mind, Citi is proud to join with Cerulli Associates, an independent consultant, and Mirae Asset, our client and co-sponsor of the research, in outlining how asset managers might effectively plan their distribution strategy across Asian markets.
Key findings of Cerulli’s research show that much of the low hanging fruit has been picked: selling UCITS funds through the major financial hubs has worked to some degree, yet managers need a more sophisticated strategy as retail sales increasingly move onshore. Meanwhile, though major pension and sovereign funds offer a tremendous growth opportunity, some are actually building teams to manage assets in-house, decreasing the outsourcing mandates available to third-party managers.
Finally, the spotlight on Asia has led to intense competition between local and foreign managers. Even Western managers concede that local managers have advantages of language, cultural understanding, and commitment to the region. At the same time, due to the heterogeneous nature of the region, local managers are increasingly finding that expansion from their home market to other Asian markets can sometimes come with the same challenges that Western managers face.
Clearly, it is an exciting time to be running an asset management business in Asia, but there are significant challenges, too. As a major provider of services to the investment community, by sponsoring this research Citi hopes to assist our clients in overcoming these hurdles.
We are pleased to provide you with the following research report prepared by Cerulli.
- Click here to download a Sneak Peek version of the research report.
- Click here to read the full report.
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Neeraj Sahai |
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