In the wake of plummeting revenue streams, particularly with client concerns over operational risk and managers’ needs to control costs, the lines between traditional investment managers and hedge funds have blurred and will continue to do so. Traditional investment managers and hedge funds alike need to focus on the business of managing money as well as the management of the assets. Though the industry’s historically high margins have allowed managers to pay scant attention to the decidedly unglamorous and hugely complex expense side of the business, they must do so now. The winners will be those who manage their firms as well as they manage their clients’ portfolios.
While buy-side revenues are driven by assets under management, costs and, ultimately, profit are driven primarily by the number of accounts and secondarily by the number of products or strategies the firm offers. Even with automation, more…
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