Many asset managers describe their businesses as global because they invest in financial markets across the world. Yet not one has succeeded in building a truly global client base that can rival those of leading technology companies such as Google and Amazon.
Building a client base in emerging markets requires international investment managers to confront myriad legal and regulatory obstacles that can pose a threat to expansion plans.
Yet the prize for doing so is potentially huge. The growing size and prosperity of the middle classes across many emerging markets offers a tantalising reward to those managers that can address the needs of institutional clients and retail investors in these countries.