Rebooting the global asset management industry

Rebooting the global asset management industry 49 Key Findings a. Leadership Top executives are challenging the status quo by: • setting a credible vision and an action plan for a digital future • putting client interest at the heart of the vision • ensuring that the vision has buy-in from all stakeholders • linking staff incentives to targeted outcomes • ensuring that the vision has clear KPIs, timelines and accountability. b. Business Culture Top executives are using their business culture as a transformational tool that changes corporate DNA by: • ensuring that its espoused values are consistent with the vision • embedding these values into business processes and staff behaviors • encouraging staff to try out new ideas and working methods • promoting meritocratic staff compensation structures • encouraging cross-functional teamworking across disciplines. c. Talent Top executives see technology as a people play by ensuring that staff have: • skills, values and behaviors consistent with the digital age • digital as well as the soft skills essential for teamworking • opportunities for continuous personal development • the resilience to work alone as well as in teams as and when needed • opportunities for creating a personal legacy by creating lasting impacts. Key Messages Aligning staff attitudes and behaviors with the digital age is foremost a matter of changing hearts and minds. It requires clear motivation, time and persistence. GenAI is not just a tech play but a people play too. It also requires a different style of leadership. Sticking to the old ways is not an option. Markets are likely to remain volatile and drift sideways in what might be a low real return era. Only resilient business models can thrive in it. Future market recoveries are unlikely to help cope with the structural headwinds faced by the asset management industry. The time has come for walk-the-talk visionary leadership with a can- do mindset to transform business cultures and put them at the heart of the corporate brand. KPIs are also employed to keep people involved, keep people interested and keep people inspired. “Strategy is about making choices and trade-offs; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different.” Michael Porter