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June 01, 2017 at 06:41 AM
Asset managers remain under pressure despite a 0.7% increase in flows in the first quarter and 5.4% growth in assets, according to the latest quarterly survey from Moody’s Investors Service. The continued rally in equities underpinned the growth in assets.
Excluding BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, flows declined 0.35% overall, but the pace of outflows slowed. Total advisory fees fell 2.1% versus the previous quarter due to lower performance fees, and base management fees rose just 1.8% sequentially.
“The surveyed group was unable to generate positive organic growth during the quarter despite strong markets, reflecting our concerns regarding industry headwinds for active asset managers,” said analyst Jordan Schoenberg in a statement.
(Related on ThinkAdvisor: Asset Managers Struggle With Outflows, Fee Compression)
The Moody’s survey covers a sample of 12 asset managers considered representative of the broader industry and accounting for about 10% of AUM for the U.S. industry. With the exception of BlackRock (BLK), they offer primarily actively managed funds — though Invesco (IVZ) has about 18% of assets invested in passive PowerShares funds — and all are publicly traded. Vanguard, the second largest asset manager and a mutual company owned by its investors, and therefore not publicly traded, is not included in the survey.
Moody’s maintains its negative outlook for the asset management industry, based on the movement of assets into low-fee passive products, fee pressures, regulatory developments constraining sales and high asset valuations and global macro divergencies, which increase risks.
“Drawdown risk related to high asset valuations has increased given the sustained market rally. That being said, the pace of outflows from active equity did slow during the quarter, and market appreciation continued to support the stability of earnings across the surveyed group,” said Schoenberg in the statement.
The report noted that due to the pending fiduciary rule, which begins to take effect June 9, “asset management companies have already taken steps to comply with the rule’s exemptions, if not for regulatory purposes, then to enhance the competitiveness of their investment products.” Moreover, according to the report, “it is unlikely asset managers will reverse recent strategic changes, even if the rule is repealed, particularly given the challenges posed by the proliferation of passive management.”
Flows increased for five of the 12 asset managers, but only one, BlackRock, saw flows rise more than 1%. Outflows among the seven other asset managers ranged between 0.04% of assets, from AllianceBernstein, to 4.21% of assets from Waddell & Reed.
