Danske Bank Asset Management is the best asset manager in the Nordic region in 2018. That was the conclusion of a recent survey of the Nordic asset management market that has just been published by the research institute Prospera.
The Prospera ranking is based on a survey of 349 Nordic institutional investors who rated asset managers across the region on a series of parameters, including portfolio manager competence, track record, fees and product quality.
“While we are biggest in Denmark, the entire Nordic region is our home market, so it is incredibly important that we are capable of delivering strong customer experiences right across the Nordic countries.
Where has your focus been in terms of developing and improving your value offer to customers over the past year?
“We have had a lot of focus on improvements in the ESG area over the past year, and we are also working intensely to strengthen our portfolio solutions where we put together balanced portfolios for customers.
Alternative investments, such as hedge funds, have also been a focus area for us. Alternative investments have become an important and much sought after asset class that has the potential to improve a customer’s risk-adjusted return. We have launched new hedge funds in the past year and have more on the cards for the year ahead.”
Danske Bank Asset Management rose up the rankings in Sweden, Norway and Finland in this year’s Prospera survey compared to 2017. Only in Denmark was there a slight slide – from number one last year to number two this year. What will you do to recapture the top spot?
“As a team, we will work very hard in the areas we are already good at – and lift our game where we can be even better, with one example being responsible and sustainable investments, in other words ESG. We also need to be better at communicating the benefits that come with being an asset manager that is part of a leading Nordic universal bank.”
Where do you expect to see the most pronounced changes in asset management in the coming years?
“I expect changes to occur with respect to alternative investments, where a more transparent model is needed that better balances the interests of customers and managers. This is something we ourselves are working on in the private equity area.
Furthermore, I expect that active management of traditional assets will experience a renaissance. Markets have in recent years been driven by the very accommodative monetary policies of the central banks, but when that definitively ends I expect to see a return to more normal mechanisms for valuation of assets.”
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