Product Trends in 2020

Tim Quaye

At the start of the year, we questioned 17 major asset management houses on what they believed the trends in Product would be in the coming year across the following topical areas: Product Function, Fees & Charges, Product Range, Fund Structure & Governance.

Extracts from this research have been covered by media including in the FT Adviser, Ignites Europe, Financial News London and Funds Europe.

To discover more you can download the summary findings from our ‘Product Trends in 2020 Survey’ or get in touch to talk through any of these areas in more detail.

 

2020 Will be a Challenging Year for Product Functions

It will involve balancing multiple priorities including revamping existing product ranges, launching increasingly esoteric products to meet client demand and, importantly, evolving the positioning of the function to become more closely aligned with corporate strategic objectives.

All of this will need to be achieved against a backdrop of ever-strengthening competition, continued regulatory pressure and increasing media scrutiny in hot topic areas such as fees and embedding Environmental, Social & Governance considerations.

Rising to these challenges will require firms to have a clearly defined and articulated value proposition, supported by optimally configured technology and processes, ensuring that their resources are able to achieve results as efficiently as possible.

About the Survey

Our participants covered a cross-section of the industry, from global asset managers with more than 300 funds to ~30 fund boutiques. In aggregate participants have over 2,000 Funds and more than £4.3tn of Assets under Management. All interviewees were senior members of the Product team within their organisations, with roles ranging from Global Head of Product and Head of Product Development to Global Head of Operations.

You can download the summary findings from our ‘Product Trends in 2020 Survey’ below and read more about some of the key trends for ESG in our article – “Fund Ranges & Responsible Investing in 2020: What you need to know to stay ahead”

About the Author

Tim Quaye
Tim Quaye
Senior Manager

Tim is a Senior Manager and one of the founders of Alpha's Product Practice. Tim led Alpha's 'Product Trends in 2020' research, engaging with Senior Product Specialists from across the Asset Management Industry to identify the biggest challenges they will face in the coming year. Tim has been a consultant for 10 years, he has recently helped clients on projects including fund range assessment, identification of the optimal fund vehicle, and development of the launch strategy for a fund range in a new geography.