01
Margin compression
Layered fees leave little for the manager. Ceding manufacturing forfeits a share of the value chain — and pricing power with it.
0.111%
Operating margin on AUM, 2023 — lowest since 2008
02
Brand dilution
Clients associate performance with the external fund brands on their statements. The advisory firm becomes invisible behind them.
~50%
Of EU managers say brand is becoming critical as products commoditize
03
Client churn
Offerings become indistinguishable from cheaper competitors. Absent a unique edge, the relationship boils down to fees.
53%
Of retail investors leave a firm over inexcusable underperformance
04
Strategic irrelevance
An order-taker, not an asset creator. Each missed innovation cements the firm as a mere allocator — and lowers its enterprise value.
70%
Of 2013 fund launches that did not survive the decade