The secret to success

Do you have the answer to the eternal question on how fund managers achieve outperformance?

For the past few years, RBC Investor & Treasury Services has been the proud sponsor of Money Management’s Fund Manager of the Year awards.

The fund management profession is facing pressing challenges, including increased regulatory oversight, market volatility, shifting client preferences and a relentless downward pressure on fees. Alongside major shifts in technology capabilities, fund managers need to find the optimal mix of talent and tools to achieve the outperformance their investors are seeking. 

So it’s timely to recognise performance and understand the attributes that lead to success.

Solaris Investment Management identified its strong risk management culture and the stability of its team as contributing factors for winning the Long/Short Equities category. Many of its senior team members had worked together for a long period of time, building a strong team dynamic, engendering trust and consistency.

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Quay Global Investors, a Bennelong boutique and winner of the Global Property Securities award, reinforced the importance of having a team that works together to find the best real estate opportunities around the globe, with each individual playing a valued role to achieving outperformance.

Retirement & Income category winner, Legg Mason Martin Currie, for its Real Income Fund, cites its collaborative, fundamental research process and strong portfolio construction disciplines for delivering superior investment outcomes for its investors.

This focus on internal collaboration and trust is a tried and tested formula for consistent performance. With the fast pace of change, fund managers are increasingly seeking individuals and partners who are strong team players to gain a competitive edge. Whether they are hiring people with cultural diversity to bring in new ideas, or seeking talent with data analytics experience, fund managers acknowledge that finding team members and business partners who support each other effectively, remains a fundamental success factor.

Legg Mason, Solaris and Quay partner with RBC Investor & Treasury Services for their custody and fund administration solutions. This partnership is intended to work as an extension of the fund managers’ business, building trust and confidence in the speed and quality of information flows to and from clients.

Quality back office solutions can help combat some of the margin pressures and harness the vast proliferation of data to help asset managers make business and investment decisions. As funds succeed and grow, the technology investment required to support thousands of client accounts and strike hundreds of net asset values requires significant scale and complexity.

For over 17 years, RBC I&TS has been supporting asset managers in Australia to achieve their domestic and international distribution and investment objectives and helps them manage through change.

RBC I&TS’ talent strategy has shifted to accommodate contemporary skills in data analytics and artificial intelligence to build application programming interfaces that enhance the client experience, and to analyse data and develop insights that inform fund managers’ investment strategies.

Securing talented individuals with a deep understanding of data who can work alongside those with strong client-facing skills means hiring must emphasise teamwork.

Despite the rapid rise of technology solutions, it seems there’s no substitution for quality talent and a strong team dynamic. Across every part of the fund management value chain, this remains the secret to success.

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