Luxembourg – September 21, 2022 – BlackRock, Fidelity and Robeco were the major category winners of the 2022 Broadridge Distribution Achievement Awards, while Amundi and Liontrust were among the Fastest Risers. This year’s winners reflect the diverse range of talent and enterprise displayed by the leading asset management teams working across the industry.

The awards were founded in 2016 to recognise excellence in various aspects of fund distribution and to celebrate the hard work and resourcefulness of marketing, sales and client service teams in the European fund distribution market.

“Based on a combination of our authoritative research and exhaustive data, the annual Broadridge Distribution Awards truly represent the voice of the market,” said Lynn Pattinson, Director, Broadridge Global Insights. “The five categories of Client Service, Marketing and Communications, Innovation, ESG, and APAC Business Growth all focus on key drivers of industry growth. In a changing and challenging world, this year’s nominees and winners have all demonstrated their resilience, responsiveness, and creativity in delivering exceptional service to their clients.”

“I am delighted that Luxembourg is hosting the Broadridge Awards once again at the occasion of ALFI’s Global Distribution conference,” said Camille Thommes, Director General of ALFI. “Despite the tense geopolitical background, the need to constantly adapt to a volatile market environment in an ongoing dynamic regulatory context, I welcome the level of professionalism, the growing efforts to meet customer expectations and the capacity of resilience and inventiveness of asset management firms. Congratulations to the nominees and the winners.”

The awards are based on responses from over 800 of Europe’s leading third-party fund selectors from Broadridge’s Fund Buyer Focus interviews conducted in the 12-month period to June 2022.The interviews seek to pinpoint the changing demands of Europe’s key fund distribution influencers, and to identify the fund providers that are delivering best-in-class standards. These fund selectors represent around €3trn of third-party client assets in Europe and provide a representative voice of investors in the ten markets they serve.

Award categories and winners:

Client Service Award

Top Provider: Fidelity
Fastest Riser: Amundi

As client expectations of asset managers continue to evolve, the successful sales–client relationship must develop to reflect changing standards and industry practices. Today’s investors have a more complex conception of value and seek a more nuanced relationship with managers: one that spans deep technical expertise, responsiveness, and a clear understanding of individual business and clients’ needs.

Fidelity took the top spot in this award in 2022 – ending several years of J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s dominance in this category – as they set the standard for delivering optimal, client-centric service.

Amundi took home the Fastest Riser Award in the Client Services category. Their win highlights the value that many fund selectors continue to place in the skill and ability of smaller managers to provide outstanding, tailor-made service.

Innovation Award

Top Provider: BlackRock

Innovation is one of the key factors that sets leading asset managers apart from the pack – the industry is changing at a rapid pace, and firms must adapt to meet new challenges and make the most of new opportunities. That is why, last year, we introduced the Innovation Award. This category recognises outstanding achievement in pioneering inventive solutions to evolving marketplace challenges. This year, BlackRock came out on top, as fund selectors recognised the global heavyweight’s ability to navigate changing currents and introduce dynamic new solutions.

ESG Award

Top Provider: Robeco
Fastest Riser: Liontrust

The ESG space has come to the fore in recent years, as a new breed of investors prioritise funds that will generate a positive global impact. In the wake of growing concerns over so-called ‘greenwashing’, managers and products face increased scrutiny, and must work harder than ever to exhibit their social credentials. Robeco has repeatedly demonstrated its authenticity, and the firm’s legacy as an early pioneer of ESG and thematic investing continues to play a defining role in its current strategy. So, it is no surprise to see Robeco come out on top in this category, as the firm wins the award for the fifth consecutive year.

In recent years, we have seen strong performance from a number of smaller players in this category while several of the large global houses, particularly from the US, have lagged. This year, the Fastest Riser award goes to the UK’s Liontrust, for their outstanding work in the ESG field.

Marketing & Comms Award

Top Provider: BlackRock
Fastest Riser:  Vanguard

Bringing the many functions of asset management together under a single cohesive brand is one of the key challenges that faces firms of all sizes.

This year’s winners lead the way with their marketing and communications work. BlackRock held onto its spot at the top of this year’s rankings, as the firm’s supermarket-style offering, augmented by its newer ESG products, helped it maintain its clear lead with European selectors.

Meanwhile, Vanguard’s diligent work growing their brand among a new generation of investors was enough to secure them the Fastest Riser award in this category.

APAC – Business Growth Award

Top Provider: BlackRock

This year, a new awards category has been launched: the APAC – Business Growth Award.

Global brands can face challenges establishing themselves in the APAC region – particularly in countries that have an industry of established local players.

BlackRock are the inaugural winners of this award, as they led the way with solid brand performance, a reputation for expertise, and an expansive product range.

For Further Information:

Luis Salerno
Head of Communications
ALFI
Tel: +352 22 30 26 1

Lynn Pattinson
Broadridge
Lynn.Pattinson@broadridge.com

Notes to editors:

Broadridge Distribution Achievement Awards

The Broadridge Distribution Achievement Awards are based on Broadridge’s authoritative Fund Buyer Focus fund selector survey and the interview results collected during the period between 1 July 2021–30 June 2022. This regular survey, which has been running for more than a decade, is based on in-depth telephone interviews, in local language, with over 800 fund selectors from 10 European countries every year. These fund selectors account for €3trn of third-party assets — or an estimated 70% of accessible third-party assets in Europe. The focus of the interviews is to provide feedback to asset managers on which fund groups these selectors prefer to work with overall and to identify which firms offer superior support in the categories of marketing, sales and account management, product quality, brand, and pricing.

Fund selectors are asked to nominate their three preferred suppliers in each category on an unprompted basis. The top supplier is awarded three points; the second, two points; and the third, one point. This data is then aggregated to produce a ranking of named fund groups that can be compared from one time period to another. The awards are based on the latest rankings available – the period is the 12 months to June 2022.

Fastest Risers are calculated from a comparison between June 2022 data and the previous 12 months to June 2021. The award for Innovation is powered by Broadridge’s GMI funds module, which provides detailed domestic and cross-border fund market intelligence across retail and institutional channels.

The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) is the representative body of the Luxembourg investment fund community. Founded in 1988, the Association currently represents over 1,500 Luxembourg-domiciled investment funds, asset management companies, and a wide range of service providers such as custodian banks, fund administrators, transfer agents, distributors, legal firms, consultants, tax experts, auditors and accountants, specialist IT providers, and communication companies. The Luxembourg Fund industry is the largest fund domicile in Europe and a worldwide leader in cross-border distribution of funds. Luxembourg-domiciled investment structures are distributed on a global basis in more than 70 countries with a particular focus on Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. For further information, do not hesitate to consult our website at www.alfi.lu

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