Stefanie Drews (pictured) has lofty ambitions for the firm, aiming to grow the company by twice its AUM by 2032.
Finding time in the middle of an international tour to promote a rebrand can be tough for some, but Stefanie Drews, CEO of Amova Asset Management, sat down with Investment Week to explore the increasingly fast paced changes asset managers are facing and how she is tackling them from the top seat.
Drews took on the CEO role back in February but the decision to rebrand Nikko AM was touted back in September 2024 to better reflect the firm's progress and future plans for its global growth strategy, a tandem evolution of her professional journey and the company she has made her name in.
Now in its 66th year, the firm is "very different" to what it once was, according to Drews, and not just because of its rebrand.
She explains: "We now have a much broader investor base. Distribution wise, we are now a global firm, but also the way that we interact as a firm is completely new. We are 100% digitalised."
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Amova allows 100% working from home, or 100% from the office if the employee so chooses. Every meeting is hybrid with translators, making the asset manager "language agnostic".
Drews describes the company as "super modern and completely outward oriented" and the name Amova reflects "who we are today".
The rebrand originated from three ideas, according to the firm: ‘Am' stands for asset management, ‘Mov' refers to movement, and ‘Ova' is derived from the Latin nova, meaning new.
Following the rebrand, the CEO is setting out ambitious goals to take the firm into the next decade.
"We decided that we wanted to grow the company by twice its assets under management by 2032 and half of that would have to come from our organic footprint," says Drews.
Growth
This organic growth will theoretically come from the 'ample' resources Amova already has, she explains, including 1,000 employees, 224 of whom are investment professionals, with around half of them based outside Japan.
But the CEO notes that inorganic growth has to come in tandem, with a focus on capital investments and partnerships to complement Amova's existing offering.
Several areas have been targeted for inorganic growth: private assets; sustainable investing; ETFs, and asset managers to bolster distribution in Europe, Asia and the US.
Two of these boxes have been ticked already thanks to a joint venture with French private asset firm Tikehau Capital and a minority stake in Osmosis Investment Management.
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Amova and Tikehau will be setting up a joint venture in Singapore to distribute Asian versions of its European strategies.
Osmosis is "very important" as a firm to the sustainable investing criteria, as it focuses on carbon and water waste as well as resource efficiency.
Amova also monitors regional growth. For example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has "probably the biggest global consumer story there is right now" and Amova fully intends to utilise it.
According to the World Economic Forum, ASEAN will become the world's fourth-largest economy by 2030. The Business Times expects the region's middle-class population to hit 472 million in the same year. Spending power, and money ripe for investment, is set to skyrocket.
This shows a large amount of long-term potential, but in the short-term, ASEAN is the fourth-largest destination for US exports, which totalled nearly $125bn in 2024, a 16% increase over the previous year.
Drews states that if you are looking to invest in Asia, ASEAN is a real "powerhouse".
A decade of change
Over the past ten years, Drews has noticed a "more dynamic industry" that no longer simply rides the beta wave but is "looking for true diversification".
She says: "The reporting is more sophisticated, the integration of climate risk more advanced, and there is progress on many fronts."
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While products have a large amount of variety, the industry could work more of that into the people delivering them.
However, she defends her firm in this regard, stating the changes have been "breathtaking".
"We are end-to-end digitalised, more diverse, and we bridge language and culture. We offer opportunities to rise up through the ranks for all, and we are truly progressive, while always focusing on our clients and all our other stakeholders," she adds.
"The very fact that I was able to be in the position I am in today is a testament to the openness that the company shows towards how to shape its future."
Drews is adamant that she has "never regretted" moving into financial services and asset management.
"It has not always been the easiest industry, but one that I love and am fully committed to. If you look statistically, when it comes to representing a broader segment of society in leadership positions – or any position in asset management – our industry has not progressed as it should have," she argues.
"Yet this is precisely what we need in order to have, for example, risk viewed through different lenses, as this surely leads to better performance. So, this remains a work in progress."
