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Asset Management

Despite recent soaring asset flows, the asset management industry has been facing a range of challenges—and these will only get tougher in the near to medium term. It’s more important than ever for asset managers to question the status quo when it comes to products, cost structure, and growth strategies.

Alternative assets will be of the utmost importance, but not all alternatives are created equal. Uncovering the best opportunities for growth and renewal will be crucial. In addition, asset management firms need to go beyond performance when it comes to providing best-in-class client experience and asset management services. The winners in distribution are creating data-driven business intelligence and further integrating the personalized needs of clients into the product development process, increasingly tailoring their offerings to such areas as ESG investing.


BCG’s Asset Management Consulting

BCG’s experts partner with asset managers to work through the strategic implications of changes in the market environment—and convert them into competitive advantages.

Strategy and Growth. Linking an asset management firm’s strategy to its growth objectives and corporate ambitions is at the core of BCG’s mission. We have a strong track record of supporting clients in achieving their organic and inorganic growth targets, evolving their business models, and rethinking their strategies.

Marketing and Sales. Shrinking margins over the past decade are forcing asset managers to focus on the bottom line as well as the top line—which has always been the most challenging. We address this asset management pain point by helping clients focus on some of the biggest drivers of revenue enhancement, including pricing, distribution, and sales force effectiveness.

Investment Management. Value creation through investment management is key to every asset and wealth management company. BCG helps improve investment outcomes by using advanced analytics, streamlining the investment management organization and operating model, and implementing new methods of investment strategy development.

IT, Operations, and Support. While new tools and technologies allow for an unprecedented increase in operational efficiency, asset management firms face internal hurdles, such as legacy systems and siloed operations, as well as the external threat of cyber attacks. BCG helps revamp technology strategies and transform operations and back-office functions, allowing asset management firms to better leverage their data and work in a more agile way.

Transformation. Today, asset managers face a variety of challenges, which makes transformation difficult. We help clients with transformational change across the value chain, enabling organizations to grow, build competitive advantage, and drive bottom-line impact.


Meet Some of BCG’s Asset Management Consulting Experts


Our Asset Management Solutions and Impact

BCG has a range of proprietary tools and frameworks, driven by expertise across the firm, that power our asset management strategy.

Our partnerships with global asset management firms have made a lasting impact, including many cost transformation projects. For example:

  • BCG worked with a leading global asset manager to prioritize the potential for cost savings, holding working sessions with leaders to refine opportunities and determine their possible impact on the budget.

    The result: target savings of 16% identified and implemented within two years.

  • We helped one client—a European asset manager with $500 billion in assets under management and more than 500 full-time employees—implement a firmwide transformation, defining roles more clearly and aligning them with business needs.

    The result: a reduction of 20% to 25% in managerial roles.

  • A large US asset manager operating within a boutique business model was facing profitability pressures. BCG worked with the client to understand the current state and design the future state of support functions across subsidiaries.

    The result: savings of $100 million achieved within two years.

Explore Our Latest Thinking on Asset Management

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