Asset Management Configuration Example for Banks
The Organisation: Large Global Private Bank Focused on Delivering Investment Management Services
A large global private bank (the Bank) partnered with SEI to provide investment management services to high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals and their families. The asset management relationship with the Bank was launched in 2003. Since launch, it has grown to cover 12 booking centres located in Southeast Asia, Continental Europe, the UK and Channel Islands and North America. SEI manages and administers over $3billion across three programmes.
The Challenge: The Bank Desired Marketplace Differentiation through Global Investment Capabilities
The Bank, while positioned as a successful large global institution, was looking for a way to truly differentiate itself in the marketplace. It realised that it had a very recognisable global brand; however, it lacked global investment management capabilities as it was currently providing a more regionalised offering.
The Bank embarked upon a search to partner with an organisation that would enable it to provide a consistent and recognisable offering with global investment management capabilities. The Bank wanted a firm that it could trust as a joint discretionary manager who would help it develop the “one-stop-shop” across all of its booking centres worldwide to help set them apart from competitors in the marketplace.
The Decision: SEI Is Selected as the Chosen Investment Management Services Provider
After a diligent search and review of perspective partners, the Bank chose SEI based on its comprehensive services offering and unique approach to business partnerships.
By partnering with SEI, the Bank was able to consume the following services in order to expand business and better compete in the marketplace:
Asset Management Services
During the due diligence process, the Bank strived to satisfy several different needs in an effort to differentiate their offering. First, they sought a provider who could enable an open-architecture, model-based approach to portfolio management. Second, they looked for a firm able to provide the tools and services needed to manufacture and distribute asset management products and programmes – whether proprietary or third party. Third, the Bank wanted the partner firm to both help its investment managers develop and implement proprietary investment strategies, and efficiently manage end client portfolios against those strategies. Finally, the Bank’s investment distributors needed to improve the delivery of appropriate, risk-adjusted returns to their end client by incorporating the best thinking of third-party specialists. Satisfying these needs would enable the Bank to combine proprietary strategies and complementary third party solutions. Further, it would enable the Bank to deliver more open and objective investment advice to increasingly sophisticated end clients.
Ultimately, the Bank chose to partner with SEI. All of the services the Bank now consumes from SEI are leveragable and consistently offered in all of its booking centres around the world. Specifically, the SEI partnership provides the Bank with:
- An asset allocation approach suited to long-term, strategic investments
- A world-class multi-manager solution
- Access to institutional quality investment managers
- Market leading manager selection, disciplined rebalancing and efficient portfolio construction
- Ability to use building blocks and strategies to create customised portfolios
- Manager oversight and monitoring
Additional services provided by SEI to the Bank include:
- Client reporting (transaction statements, performance reporting)
- In-market sales support (team of relationship manager and account manager on the ground in each region)
- Market commentary
- Website access
- Marketing & sales material
- Sales training