Global themes in asset management

AbderdeenGlobalThemes

Piers Currie

Director

Warhorse Partners

“Life is not illogicality; yet it is a trap for logicians. It looks just a little more mathematical and regular than it is; its exactitude is obvious, but its inexactitude is hidden; its wildness lies in wait.” G.K. Chesterton

This little book follows a trawl of the established published sources of information on our industry and quite a few others as well. Many institutions return each year to publish and cover their views on the asset management industry, the trends the sector faces and the emerging themes. Some themes in particular resonate with Aberdeen’s culture and brand identity and for this our second edition, we have a new chapter on Risk, our eighth chapter, which fills a gap from the first edition.

Many giant blockbuster tomes revert each year with fresh content. Of merit is the UBS Investment Annual, which features an overarching insight from LBS professors Dimson and Staunton. This weighty oeuvre sits alongside the legendary annual Barclays Equity Gilt Study as the early year publications.

Beyond the investment banks, consultants and market intelligence firms generally dispense their wisdom during the year. It is hard to pick out any specific pieces for praise and clarity of insight; in all there are over 100 public sources of information for this booklet. These have been written, in no particular order, by six banks, four trade bodies, seven investment consultants and accountancy firms, twelve academic institutions, five governmental organisations, and five asset managers, as well as nine journalists.

We have listed the links to the sources at the end of each chapter, and are grateful for the insights and intelligence that all these authors have shared to make this little book of themes flourish.

After writing, we have summarised each chapter with boxes containing the key arguments or issues, and a second box that defines Aberdeen’s position as we know it on each theme.

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