A Guide to Fund Management

Book Preface

The fund management industry performs the professional management and administration of investment assets on behalf of its clients. The terms “fund” and “asset” management refer to the management of all forms of institutional investment, including the collective management of the wealth of private individuals. As a result, this is a large and important segment of the finance industry. In 2010, the industry had some US$62 trillion of assets under management, generating fee revenue of over USD$500 billion.
In order to capture the revenue opportunity, senior officers in fund management companies have to apply best practice and understand operational issues. This is not as easy as it sounds. There are numerous calls on their time, and their core focus should always be investment performance. This Executive Report was written to address the resultant time optimisation dilemma.
A Guide to Fund Management combines accepted industry best practice, structure, operations and procedures. As a result, readers can spend less time rummaging through industry white papers and more time on the strategic direction of the firm.
The Executive Report has been written to be as up to date as possible, making it more relevant than the multitude of papers and operational notes that senior management is usually confronted with. It aims to offer a onestop shop on how to run a firm, addressing such key issues as:

• The different approaches to fund management;
• Revenue models;
• Complex regulation; and
• Legal structures;
• Best practices and how to implement them;
• Performance generation and persistence;
• Clear and concise operational descriptions and functions;
• How to make the firm client-centric;
• Product development; and
• The threat and opportunities from alternatives to mainstream fund management.