This area can also be called Investment Management, Fund Management, Money Management or Portfolio Management. Asset Management is all about managing other people’s money, making more money and increasing the returns while doing so. ‘Money’ could be in the form of cash, securities (shares, bonds etc) or assets (property). Investors are generally institutions such as insurance companies, pension finds, corporates or charities.
Money is invested on behalf of these various clients into ‘investment products’ (or ‘asset classes’). These include stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, property and other financial products. One of the key things the Asset Management division needs to do is use a combination of investment experience, theory, technology and market analysis to identify the best investments for its clients’ portfolios. Then they need to grow the value of the initial investment on behalf of their clients, but keeping in line with the clients’ needs. The more successful they are at this, the higher the commission they make for themselves and the bank.
Within Investment Management, there tends to be two main functions: Investments and Sales & Distribution.
Investments
Also know as Investment Management, this is the area that invests the client funds. There are various roles within Investments including Research Analysts, Portfolio Managers and Traders. The research analysts identify companies and industry sectors and make recommendations on how best to invest. Using information gathered by the researchers, portfolio managers make the decisions about where to invest their clients’ money. They work to client’s pre-determined criteria. This might include the percentage of money the client wants to invest in certain types of asset, and the level of risk they are willing to take. Working on behalf of portfolio managers, traders must make sure that all trades are made/executed at the best possible price, under the best conditions and performed quickly via the best network of brokers.
Sales & Distribution
This function is responsible for positioning and selling the investment services offered by the bank. It also manages client relationships. In this case these are the distribution channels that sell the banks services such as retail banks, IFAs, Institutional Investors and professional Wealth Managers. It also includes Product Managers who devise new investment products & services.
More information: SUMMER INTERNSHIPS IN ASSET MANAGEMENT
More Information: GRADUATE SCHEMES IN ASSET MANAGEMENT
