“Comparing Q1 of this year versus Q1 of last year, both revenues and margins were up in that timeframe,” said Amanda Walters, a principal at Casey Quirk, in an interview. “We saw a decline in March, then a market rally. In the global financial crisis, markets continued to decline for months on end. There was a much bigger impact on managers’ financials. If this market rally continues, perhaps the worst of the hit to asset managers’ bottom lines could be over.”
The data from Casey Quirk/Deloitte is incredibly valuable, as always. However, it masks a deep division in the industry between firms with more diverse client bases and investment strategies in multiple markets, including alternative investments, that are doing very well through the current crisis, and those with predominantly core product offerings who are facing serious headwinds. We stand by our predictions that for most firms in the II300, 2020 will prove to be a very challenging year in the face of a deep recession and volatile markets that leave clients unsettled. By Julie Segal.