On at least one critical measure—growth—Asia dominates the global asset-management industry. The region attracted 56 percent of global flows between 2013 and 2018. Yet Asia is not immune to the recent macroeconomic uncertainties that have affected the global industry. After six years of robust growth (15 percent compound annual growth rate), Asian assets under management gained just 5 percent in 2018. In addition, five disruptions—rising cost pressures, pressure on margins for traditional products, the ascendance of pension and insurance segments, increased demand for cross-border products, and the progress of digitization—are likely to affect the future growth of Asian markets.
How can asset-management companies survive these disruptions and continue to create sustainable value? The answer lies in identifying the right avenues to create value and adopting the most relevant capabilities. Gaining scale, finding new sources of fee revenue, and adopting digital and analytics are important priorities on the path ahead.
This report reviews the year just passed, the five key trends shaping the Asian asset-management industry, their impact on the industry’s economics, and the three elements that companies must revisit to build sustainable value. Our findings are drawn from our two long-running research programs, the McKinsey Performance Lens Global Growth Cube and the 2019 edition of the McKinsey Asia Asset Management Survey.