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In plain words, investment management refers to the handling of financial assets, suggesting investment strategy and buying and selling of investments. One can also refer to it as money management, portfolio management, asset management or wealth management.
While you can do it yourself, investors may generally choose to hire an investment advisor or fund manager as it requires substantial market research. Investment managers will provide the best strategy for investment based on a client’s risk appetite, profit goals, current inflows and even age. While formulating a strategy is one part, they also monitor the investments and in most cases actively manage the portfolio for their clients.
Investment management and advisory are rife with scammers as anybody can claim to be an investment manager. In most countries, the title itself is not protected and no certificate is needed. Frequently, a scammer impersonates a legitimate investment firm or an employee of one and then loots the investor.
Our advice:
In general, professional Investment firms only take on accounts that can invest at least $ 100,000. The reason is simple; the costs of their advice and transaction fees are simply too high for the amount which can be invested. An investment manager willing to work for a lower investment is probably not a real investment manager. If you have less to invest in, we recommend contacting your bank for a reliable investment product.
Other tips:
Any financial services entity will be registered with the local regulator and it is always advisable to do a background check on them before transferring any money.
It could be difficult to find someone to trust your money with, especially with the wide number of options available. Here we list the largest and the most popular investment management firms from across the globe.
| Name | Assets under management (AUM) |
| BlackRock | $8.7 trillion |
| Vanguard Group | $6.2 trillion |
| UBS Group | $3.5 trillion |
| State Street Global Advisors | $3.5 trillion |
| Fidelity | $3.3 trillion |
| Allianz | $2.8 trillion |
| JPMorgan Chase | $3 trillion |
| Bank of New York Mellon | $2 trillion |
| Capital Group | $1.7 trillion |
| Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) | $2.2 trillion |
*AUM is the total market value of the investments a company manages on behalf of its clients.
BlackRock, Inc. is an American multinational investment management corporation based in New York City. Founded in 1988, initially as a risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager, with US$9.5 trillion in assets under management as of October, 2021. BlackRock operates globally with 70 offices in 30 countries and clients in 100 countries.
The Vanguard Group, Inc. is an American registered investment advisor based in Malvern, Pennsylvania with about $7 trillion in global assets under management, as of January 13, 2021. It is the largest provider of mutual funds and the second-largest provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the world after BlackRock's iShares. In addition to mutual funds and ETFs, Vanguard offers brokerage services, variable and fixed annuities, educational account services, financial planning, asset management, and trust services.
UBS Group AG is a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swiss banking institution and the largest private bank in the world. Apart from private banking, UBS provides wealth management, asset management, and investment banking services for private, corporate, and institutional clients with international service.
State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) is the investment management division of State Street Corporation and the world's fourth largest asset manager, with nearly $3.59 trillion (USD) in assets under management as of 31 March 2021. The company services financial clients by creating and managing investment strategies for governments, corporations, endowments, non-profit foundations, corporate treasurers and CFOs, asset managers, financial advisors and other intermediaries around the world.
Fidelity Investments Inc., commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is one of the largest asset managers in the world with $4.9 trillion in assets under management as of June 2020 and a combined total customer asset value number of $8.3 trillion. Fidelity Investments operates a brokerage firm, manages a large family of mutual funds, provides fund distribution and investment advice, retirement services, index funds, wealth management, cryptocurrency, securities execution and clearance, asset custody, and life insurance.
Allianz SE is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management. Its asset management division, which consists of PIMCO, Allianz Global Investors and Allianz Real Estate, has €2,432 billion of assets under management (AuM), of which €1,775 billion are third-party assets (Q1 2021).
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City. As of June 30, 2021, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the world's largest bank by market capitalization, and the fifth-largest worldwide in terms of total assets, controlling US$3.684 trillion.
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY Mellon, is an American investment banking services holding company headquartered in New York City. BNY Mellon was formed from the merger of The Bank of New York and the Mellon Financial Corporation in 2007. It is the world's largest custodian bank and asset servicing company, with $2.2 trillion in assets under management and $41.7 trillion in assets under custody as of the second quarter of 2021.
Capital Group is an American financial services company. It ranks among the world's oldest and largest investment management organizations, with over $2.6 trillion in assets under management. Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1931, it is privately held and has offices around the globe in the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe. Capital offers a range of products focused on active management, including more than 40 mutual funds through its subsidiary, American Funds Distributors, as well as separately managed accounts (or collective investment trusts), private equity, investment services for high net worth investors in the U.S.
PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC) is an American investment management firm focusing on active fixed income management worldwide. PIMCO manages investments in many asset classes such as fixed income, equities, commodities, asset allocation, ETFs, hedge funds, and private equity. PIMCO is one of the largest investment managers, actively managing more than $2.21 trillion in assets for central banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, corporations, foundations and endowments, and individual investors around the world. PIMCO is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.
Sources: Wikipedia
