Other Key Front Office Roles in Asset Management

What are the roles of an Economist ?

An economist examines data from several countries in order to provide a macroeconomic image for the upcoming investment horizon. They use a multitude of sources for their analysis:

- Proprietary quantitative models they have developed in-house

- Analysis from 'sell-side' brokers and banks

- Analysis from major central banks like the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and ECB or Multinational organisations such    as the IMF, World Bank and OECD

The information used is then used by Analysts and Portfolio Managers in their decision making process.

What are the roles of a Portfolio Strategist?

Portfolio Strategists try to predict how markets will behave. They help ‘translate’ economic and geopolitical outlook into a view on financial markets – whether the next 3 to 6 months will be positive for equities, bonds or the US dollar.

Portfolio Strategists provide the PM with a ‘top-down’ view of the world. They assist the PM in structuring and implementing the PM's actionable themes into concrete portfolio roles.

Explain the role of a Client Portfolio Manager

CPMs act as the intermediary between the investment teams and clients, to allow Portfolio Managers to maximise their time efficiently on investments. They do not participate in decision-making and therefore do not take any risk, but they do provide feedback on client opinion and some background on how peers worked and why.

Explain the role of a Product Specialist

Product Specialists work for clients, albeit inside investment teams. They manage the product business elements as opposed to the actual investment process / approach. They work with the business development teams to help promote the strategies they represent to potential clients as well as to investment consultants.

They do not participate in decision-making, but they do attend investment meetings to stay up to date on current investment thinking and the rationale for portfolio structure and results.

What is the role of the Head of Team?

He/she determines the team’s budget, hiring needs and resources needed to effectively implement the team investment process.

What is a Chief Investment Officer responsible for?

The CIO is responsible for the overall management of investments which includes staff and resources, decision making process as well as in some cases market views and direction. The CIO's position is less about predicting markets and more about assisting in the definition of investment philosophy, the development of decision-making processes, and the management of people.