01.03.19
Asset Management's Squeezed Middle Faces a Bleak 2019
by: Paul J. Davies
Active managers, comprising the industry's squeezed middle, face a bleak new year. On one side, cheap index managers are winning investors' funds, and on the other, expensive alternative managers claim much higher returns from being properly active owners of often illiquid investments. Traditional managers are both losing assets and being forced to cut fees. Active managers' share of global industry revenues shrank to 41 percent by the end of 2017, from 64 percent in 2003, according to the Boston Consulting Group, while their share of assets under management shrank to 52 percent from 76 percent. Regulatory changes, both in the U.S. and EU, are also piling pressure on costs and profitability.
Read the full article on Wall Street Journal