Global asset management industry 'faces a reckoning' - report

Annual revenue growth to halve by 2021

The asset management industry's "historically healthy economics are deteriorating", according to a report by a Deloitte consultancy Casey Quirk, which outlines four catalysts for change in the sector and highlights the types of businesses that can survive.

The study, Survival of the Fittest: Defining Future Leaders in Asset Management, warns annual revenue growth will fall to 2.9% from 6%, median profit margin will drop to 28% from 34% and the industry's annual organic growth will slow to less than 1% by 2021. It lists "costs" and "consumers" as the two primary factors forcing the worldwide asset management industry to "face a reckoning". This is on the back of expected fixed cost increases outpacing likely future revenue growth and the fact the sector looks like other consumer businesses with its desire for a strong consumer experience...