American asset managers are investing significantly in brand awareness in Europe, a report shows.
This is one of the findings of an EY survey of chief operating officers at North American, select Latin American and European firms who were asked about primary drivers of change to their operating models.
Improving distribution channels is the primary driver of change across all respondents.
But this driver is of most importance to managers from the Americas with 81% of these managers highlighting distribution as the primary driver of change to operating models, compared to 26% for European managers.
Similarly, 24% of managers in the Americas see increasing brand awareness as their primary driver, compared to 5% of European managers.
“US managers are expanding their brands in Europe, while firms in all locations are assessing how to expand the direct-to-consumer model,” says the Managing complexity and change in a new landscape report.
“US firms rebounded from the financial crisis more quickly than their European counterparts and are investing significantly in marketing and brand awareness in Europe in an effort to increase market share.”
The majority of respondents, who are from 40 asset managers, manage between $50 billion (€36 billion) and $500 billion.
In Europe, the changing regulatory landscape came out on top with 68% citing this driver (US: 19%).
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