FundForum 2023: It’s a Wrap!

Thank you to everyone who joined us at FundForum. It was an honor to meet 1400 + of the world’s most influential asset and wealth managers to address the latest trends, innovation and ideas of the industry.

Our Broadridge experts had a chance to speak at the event, with Liam Martin, Director of EMEA Insights joining The Future of Distribution panel session and Will Mayne, Principal of Asset Management Global Advisory joining the Business Model Innovation panel session.

We are eager to continue the discussion and share with you the key takeaways from the event.

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Bingo Results

Here were the top topics and most common words and phrases we heard most during the event. Do you agree?

Five Themes We Heard

1. A New Playbook for a New World

Asset management leaders have recognized the crashing end of a golden decade that propelled European managed assets to record levels. In Monaco we heard a lot about a new era, defined by uncertain and elevated interest rates, inflation, increasing complexity from regulation, polarized politics around ESG and growing competition for fewer fund flows. We call this the unavoidable 'new competitive calculus' that asset managers must work through to create a transformation agenda capable of being successful in the new environment.

Future Growth Will Slow

Compound annual organic growth rate (%)

_{Source: Broadridge Advisory forecasts}

2. New Clients and Changing Needs

Millennials are digitally native with heightened expectations around customization, information immediacy and the quality of the online experience. They set new standards for how traditional wealth managers should engage with them, and in turn these intermediaries expect asset managers to support them with the right content, data, services and digital events. We heard a lot of discussion around digital in Monaco, with big investments from asset managers in providing a multi-channel experience fit for their partners. The ones that get the experience right again and again build and reinforce brand power.

Client Experience Matters

% of ~900 European fund buyers in 2022/23

_{Source: Broadridge Fund Buyer Focus Europe}

3. The Investment Capabilities of the Future

A new investment climate is demanding new capabilities from asset managers. Capabilities able to provide resilient real income, fund the climate transition, access private market companies and package these and more in accessible vehicles that work for intermediary partners. Sitting still when confronted with such change and trusting ‘old faithful’ capabilities feels much safer than it is – just see the chart below. Standing still isn’t the low risk move. Look here to see how the market for your capabilities has evolved, and stay tuned for our new GMI Demand Model with forecasting which will go live in September.

Equity Demand has Rapidly Evolved

Equity fund investments made by Europe investors

_{Source: Broadridge Global Market Intelligence Funds, Broadridge Product Prism}

4. The Purpose and Value of the Industry

Gone are the days that the asset manager’s job was simply delivering investment return vs. a peer benchmark. Governments, supra-governments, NGOs, intermediaries and underlying clients are just some of the stakeholders with a keen interest in how asset managers guide trillions of Euros of capital into the real economy. The point of investment is only the beginning, with an engagement agenda getting into the details of how portfolio companies manage their businesses, who they employ and what they pay their staff. This is all while the fund industry is operating under unprecedented fee transparency and challenge on the value for money provided. Do more, and prove you’re worth it is the challenge. We believe quality fee data is part of the solution.

Pricing Waterfall: Active Global EM Equity

% of 2022 institutional inflows above each fee point, Separate accounts - $250-500m

_{Source: Broadridge Global Pricing Intelligence}

5. Partnership not Product

European fund distributers have consolidated assets in larger and fewer relationships where they have used this buyer power to expect customized capabilities (often through sub advisory) and elevated and personal service levels. This means that asset managers are increasingly needing to pivot from a ‘channel view’ to a ‘segment of one’ perspective. That means considering the full potential of the relationship and engaging with the right talent able to discover and resolve what that individual client needs from a partner. This is not a European issue and is a critical change driver in the US advisor market, a topic we cover in our brand new white paper “This time It’s Personal.”

Heterogenous US Distributers

Largest US distributers by % of AUM in HNW accounts and by delivery mechanism, as of 2022

_{Source: Broadridge Analytics, Broadridge Advisory}