Surging equity markets in 2013 yielded the strongest median revenue growth last year since 2010 at 52 publicly traded asset management firms worldwide, according to analysis by Casey, Quirk & Associates.
Median revenue growth was 15% in 2013 for the 44 traditional and eight alternatives listed managers.
The median operating profit for those firms was 31% last year, the second highest achieved since 2009, and just below the median 32% profit margin posted in 2011.
One group of quoted firms—alternatives asset managers—outperformed their traditional rivals in both revenue growth and profit expansion in 2013. Alternatives firms enjoyed a median 35% revenue growth last year, compared with 14% for traditional firms. Alternatives managers also generated a 41% median operating profit last year, versus 29% for the traditional firms.
While market appreciation powered the bulk of the increase in assets under management last year at listed managers, the alternatives firms outgained the larger group of quoted firms in attracting net new money from investors.
“Alternatives firms are benefiting as both institutional and individual investors search for products and solutions that deliver less correlation and volatility, and additional sources of income,” says Jeffrey Levi, a director at Casey Quirk. “These firms are also achieving more consistent operating margins than in the past.”
Additionally, the Casey Quirk analysis of publicly traded managers indicates that North American firms outperformed their European peers in 2013 in both revenue growth and operating profit margins. The 36 listed managers in the United States and Canada generated a median 16% revenue growth and a median 31% operating profit, compared with 12% and 27%, respectively, for the 12 U.K. and continental European firms.
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