The extraordinary and tragic events of 2020 will live long in the memory, with the experiences of the last twelve months raising a number of important questions for the asset management industry and the wider financial services sector.

With the media continuing to play a vital role in making end-customer audiences aware of event, shaping their thinking and requirements as a result, investment industry businesses must be more aware of media agendas then every before. Only by understanding what is coming up on the horizon can these businesses plan for the future and position themselves at the forefront of those topics of most importance to underlying clients.

It is this premise that forms the basis of JPES Partners’ seventh Asset Management Report – The Asset Management Agenda 2021 – where we have conducted comprehensive research across global English-speaking media titles (including national and international press, specialist trade publications and newswires) to identify those themes trending upwards in the media and therefore likely to drive agendas in 2021. In parallel, we have also sought the views of leading journalists to gain a clear sense of what topics they expect to be most prominent in the year ahead.

KEY FINDINGS

• Increased scrutiny, arising from greater socio-political pressures, will push the asset management industry to up its game on diversity and inclusion, both within asset managers’ own businesses as well as those they invest in
• The influence of millennials, an increasingly prominent part of the asset management industry’s client base, will continue to grow, with generational change causing asset managers to adapt their investment focuses and ways of working
• The continuing proliferation of ESG products will intensify scrutiny of potential greenwashing, particularly as issues such as climate change increase in emphasis due to changing geopolitical agendas
• Responses to and recovery from recession conditions caused by the coronavirus pandemic will have a substantial impact on end-investor priorities and needs, with asset managers having to adapt accordingly
• Asset managers will have to demonstrate their social responsibility credentials, with greater scrutiny of how they engage with both their own workforces and their underlying investments to positively contribute to the wider world

The Asset Management Agenda