AMD Continues to Expand Membership
The Outreach Subcommittee of the Asset Managers Division recently recruited Prudential Investment Management and the investment component of Freddie Mac as AMD members. Discussions are being held with other prospective members. The intent of the AMD leadership was to establish a robust advocacy and market practices program in the first quarter of 2006 and then to engage new members to be part of that program. In this regard, prospective members located in California will be invited to the AMD's July Executive Committee meeting to be held in La Jolla on July 26-27.
If you are an asset management firm that is contemplating membership in the Asset Managers Division, please contact AMD Outreach Subcommittee Chair Seth Bernstein of J.P. Morgan Asset Management or Douglas Taggart of the staff at 646.637.9273.
7 Reasons Why Asset Managers Have Joined the AMD
1. Advocacy Agenda in Washington- Our experience is that Federal regulators are encouraged to hear that the COOs of asset management firms are willing to weigh in on how particular mutual fund proposals, for example, might affect the totality of the business of an asset manager. Whether it is pension reform or a white paper on interest rate swaps or the FSA's views on best execution standards in the European markets, the Division (through its own resources as well as with the help of TBMA) stands ready to articulate the unified views of asset managers to the highest level policy-makers in the U.S. and the global markets.
2. Networking- The Asset Managers Division enables chief operating officers and other senior executives to get to know each other better. These peer to peer business relationships constitute the basis for forging agreement on regulatory and legislative policies. But the opportunity to "compare notes" in between AMD meetings on ordinary non-competitive matters such as operations and technology, how to retain top performers and other industry trends is certainly an invaluable benefit that comes with AMD membership.
3. Education/Information Flow- Because the Asset Managers Division is connected to The Bond Market Association, AMD members are kept in the loop by TBMA's Washington and other professional staff concerning fast breaking developments that affect the Administration's latest policies. Moreover, the Association, whose reputation for quality events is beyond reproach, recognizes that in this era of transparency both buyside and sellside firms need to share their views openly on topics like risk management techniques and best practices concerning matching and settling derivatives transactions.
4. Promoting Asset Management Firms- It is, of course, very challenging to offer a single profile of a top 200 asset manager. While AMD realizes that buyside firms are made up of talented professionals whose combined abilities result in each firm's own entrepreneurial skill set, we feel it is very important to underscore a public image of AMD members which illustrates that asset managers are dedicated to strict fiduciary standards in the interests of their "ultimate investor" clients. Accordingly, within the investment community, the Asset Managers Division is indeed open to finding appropriate opportunities to promote investment advisers and thereby generally uphold the first class reputation of asset management firms. We need the involvement and support of all leading asset management firms in this effort.
5. Relationship with Sellside Firms- As hedge funds and prime brokers and technology vendors, to name just a few, engage in more and more sophisticated financial transactions, all of the traditional market participants (including bulge bracket underwriters) find that keeping abreast of new pricing and processing practices becomes ever more taxing. The Asset Managers Division has access to the necessary resources, including its own professional staff, that can help you define your questions as new products emerge and then, most importantly, put you in direct contact with fellow Wall Street experts who can help answer your questions directly. As a Division of The Bond Market Association, the AMD enables asset managers at the COO level to turn to relevant professionals at broker-dealers to jointly and efficiently resolve common concerns.
6. Ability to Mobilize Quickly- The Asset Managers Division uses its extensive trade association resources to update and prioritize its goals on a regular basis. Relying on TBMA's 30 years of experience, we have demonstrated our ability to deal with topics that regulators and market participants alike would classify as critical issues or situations. Industry-wide challenges such as Treasury fail-to-deliver situations or unexpected market closes clearly require the involvement of buyside leaders. Thus, with the formation of the AMD, asset managers now have a very prominent seat at the table when these extremely important topics arise in the financial services industry. TBMA is striving to create a culture whereby all segments of the securities industry can cooperate concerning mutual goals.
7. Complementing the Essential Work of Other Trade Groups- New regulations and revised industry standards are proliferating at an unprecedented rate. Certainly, the founders of the AMD believe that the Division offers a unique approach to achieving successful results in this challenging environment due to our access to TBMA's resources. Nonetheless, we also feel that our mission is to use AMD's strengths to complement the outstanding efforts of other groups such as ICAA, ICI, the CFA Institute, ISDA and ISITC. Equally relevant to our leadership is the work of The Asset Managers Forum; the AMF gives us a foundation in the operations area which in many instances tends to validate AMD's advocacy positions.
If you are an asset management firm that is contemplating membership in the Asset Managers Division, please contact AMD Outreach Subcommittee Chair Seth Bernstein of J.P. Morgan Asset Management or Douglas Taggart of the staff at 646.637.9273.
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