Asset Management Giants with Wrap-around Service Levels are Key Winners of the Broadridge Distribution Achievement Awards

London – Sept. 24, 2019 – BlackRock and J.P. Morgan Asset Management were the major category winners in the Broadridge Distribution Achievement Awards, presented at the ALFI Global Distribution Conference in Luxembourg on 24 September. 

The Broadridge Distribution Achievement Awards celebrate the efforts and innovation of marketing, sales and service teams in European fund distribution. Winners this year highlighted the comfort factor associated with large groups able to invest in and deliver strong sales and marketing support when markets are volatile. UBS and Natixis joined the winner’s rostrum as groups making the greatest advances in the areas of marketing, sales and brand development. Meanwhiile, demand for commitment in ethical investing saw Robeco named as the leading group for the second year running in the ESG/SRI category, while Belgian asset manager Degroof Petercam was named as the Fastest Riser. 

Announcing the winners of the awards, Debbie Brown, Global Vice-President Marketing, Broadridge Financial Solutions, said:

“In a rapidly changing world and where retail investors are concerned about market volatility, reliance on established, trusted, and differentiated brands become the norm. That is especially the case for groups that have a proven track record of investing in, and supporting, their distribution partnerships. As demonstrated by the winners of the Distribution Achievement Awards, the large ‘one-stop-shop’ providers achieve this by being responsive and having a deep understanding of customer needs. These characteristics are reflected in their product range, delivery of content and exceptional service. Notably, opportunities do exist for smaller groups that are often better able to distinguish themselves through their specialist strategies and innovative messaging.”

Corinne Lamesch, Chairperson of ALFI, said:

“The new generation of investors require new approaches in asset management. By offering innovative services and products, the asset management industry helps investors to meet their long-term financial, social and environmental goals. Today we are celebrating those who have made investing in the future their priority.”

The awards are based on responses from over 900 fund selectors participating in the annual Broadridge Fund Buyer Focus survey. The survey seeks to identify the changing demands of Europe’s key fund distribution influencers, and the fund providers that are delivering best-in-class standards. These fund selectors represent over €3trn of third-party client assets in Europe and are a representative voice of investors in the ten markets they serve.

Award categories and winners 2019:

Sales Services

Achieving success in the sales arena now requires exceptional technical expertise, accompanied by empathy with the individual challenges faced by each selector. Sales relationships now require the characteristics of a trusted adviser. In this category, fund selectors acknowledged companies that were proactive in demonstrating an understanding of their specific business and client needs.

Top group: J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Fastest Riser: UBS Asset Management

Marketing

The quality of marketing material and interactions for both fund buyer and end-client has become increasingly crucial for fund distributors. This translates into more personalised content that supports client engagement and facilitates better investment decisions. Information transparency is another critical feature. Demand for ever-increasing volumes of data and information has to be matched with a technical infrastructure that filters out the noise that is not relevant to their needs. 

Top group: J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Fastest Riser: UBS Asset Management

ESG/SRI

The ESG and sustainable investing momentum continue to gather pace across Europe with demand coming from end-investors looking for investment stories that engage at a level beyond product performance. Here, smaller players have proved able to shine brighter than some of the industry giants by demonstrating an ability to deliver truly authentic and enduring product propositions.  

Top group: Robeco

Fastest Riser: Degroof Petercam Asset Management

Brand

Brand measurement and success is determined by a combination of rational and emotional responses to company interactions and experiences. Blackrock remained the master of achieving the optimal balance, while Natixis maintained its rising trajectory with the specialist strategies of its affiliates, combined with its parent company strength.

Top group: BlackRock

Fastest Riser : Natixis Investment Managers

Broadridge Distribution Achievement Awards

The Broadridge Distribution Achievement Awards are based on the company’s authoritative fund selector survey and the interview results collected during the period 1 July 2018-30 June 2019. This regular survey, which has been running for more than a decade, is based on in-depth telephone interviews, in local language, with over 900 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 which groups 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 – period is 12 months to June 2019

Fastest risers calculated from a comparison between June 2019 data and the previous 12 months to June 2018.

The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) is the representative body of the Luxembourg investment fund community. Created in 1988, the Association today represents over 1500 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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