The 500 largest money management firms suffered a 21% plunge last year in worldwide institutional assets — to $21.364 trillion, Pensions & Investments’ annual money manager survey shows.
And in a year where key domestic and international equity indexes plunged between 37% and 43%, the survey showed internally managed U.S. institutional tax-exempt assets dropping 23% to $8.452 trillion.
The unprecedented volatility of capital markets during the year helped scramble the top money manager rankings a bit more than usual, with fixed-income and money market titans gaining ground and firms known for active management and high tracking error retreating.
Federated Investors, a money market heavyweight, jumped to 15th place from 23rd the year before, on a 27% rise in worldwide institutional assets under management to $366.57 billion. Meanwhile, AllianceBernstein, a leading manager of domestic and international equities suffering through a spate of underperformance, dropped seven spots to 20th place, as its assets plunged 43%.
Giant index managers provided a modicum of stability at the top of the rankings, with SSgA and BGI retaining first and second place, respectively.
Still, SSgA’s worldwide institutional assets dropped 30% to $1.236 trillion, while BGI’s worldwide institutional assets fell 27% to $1.149 trillion last year.
BlackRock jumped to third place from fifth place, with a 16% jump in assets to $1.09 trillion.
The full report along with survey results and analysis will appear in the May 18 issue of P&I.
