Big Money Managers Must Work Harder For The Money “You could rely on equity markets giving you somewhere around 7 percent most years,” says Robert Fairbairn, senior managing director and head of the Global Client Group at BlackRock, which is No. 1 in the II300, Institutional Investor’s annual ranking of the 300 largest U.S. money managers, with $3.5 trillion in assets as of year-end 2011. No longer.
“All that adds up to a requirement that assets have to work harder,” he says.
No wonder investors are moving to lower-cost, passive strategies when active managers aren’t consistently outperforming benchmarks.
Choosing America’s Biggest Money Managers The II 300 ranks America's largest money managers by assets under management. In conformity with the traditional view of the money management business, assets are defined as discretionary assets under management for the account of customers for which an organization has contractual authority to make buy and sell decisions. We ask firms to report assets under management for their entire organization--including subsidiaries. The ranking includes insurance companies, banks, investment management firms, internally managed pension funds, mutual fund companies and hedge funds. Domestic and non-U.S. equities include convertibles. ADR's are included in non-U.S. equities. Domestic and non-U.S. fixed income include preferred stock and mortgage backed securities. Real estate includes debt and equity. Alternative investments may include derivatives, venture capital, oil & gas, timberland, and hedge fund investments. Tax-exempt assets represent assets from tax-exempt sources, such as pension funds, foundations and endowments. The rankings were compiled by Researchers Emily Kaemmerlen and Valentina McKenzie under the supervision of Senior Editor Jane B. Kenney.