I prepared this presentation as part of the requirements for an interview that i never attended. Ask me why? Well, i thought i\’d be giving away too much of my intellectual property... But here it is anyway. This is a basic description of what you need to setup an asset management department.

1. Setting up an Asset Management Unit
April 28, 2012
Presented By: Ifemezue Uma

2. Outline
 Asset Management Unit Overview
 Unit Goal
 Organisation and Operations
 Staff
 Staff Development
 Investment Committee
 Services
 Unit Activities
 Business Development
 Asset Management Strategy
 Technology
 Software
 Mobile Technology
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3. Asset Management Unit Overview
 The Unit will provide asset/wealth management services to high net
worth individuals and corporate investors. The target clients are:
b. High net-worth individuals defined as individuals capable of having
investment portfolios worth N20 million and above. Our target shall
be senior executives of major companies, government agencies,
parastatals and departments.
c. Insurance companies and brokers
d. Corporate Trustees
e. Pension Fund Administrators
f. Multinational Institutions
g. Venture Capital Companies
h. Quoted Companies
i. Government Agencies, Parastatals, Departments etc.
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4. Unit Goal
To add value to clients investments while building sustainable wealth
How will we do it?
We will develop a comprehensive database on every conceivable
prospect and do everything possible to reach them
We will employ analytical tools and research materials to offer first
rated investment and financial planning advisory services to our clients
We will avail our clients periodic information on their portfolios on
demand and quarterly basis.
For every prospect, we shall constitute and investment advisory team
to be made up of the account officer and 2 other senior staff who must
give input to all stages of the investment process – Investment
objective, investment policy, portfolio structuring and management.
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5. Organization and Operations
Head Asset
Management
Internal
Controls
Sales &
Operations Investments Relationship
Management
Institutiona Sales &
Financial Fund Client Mutual Relationship
FMC l& Marketing
Control Operations Services Funds Management
HNI

6. Organisation and Operations
The Asset Management unit must be totally focused on client service.
Each staff person shall be trained to work directly with our clients
although some of us will be more responsible for the external
communications but we are all in the business of client service.
Operations Policy
There are two fundamental aspects of the firm’s operations policy:
•A system of checks and balances. This system will be established in
order to assure accuracy and to maintain a high level of fiduciary
responsibility.
•Delegation of significant authority and responsibility to staff. We shall
view each employee as a professional in his or her own area of
responsibility.
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7. Staff
 Financial Advisors/Marketing
They support the operations staff. Each new client would be assigned his
own personal FA, even though he also meets with the Unit Head on a
regular basis. The FA sits in on the initial meeting with the new client, and
assists in the data gathering and the preparation of the investment policy.
After the plan has been delivered and the new accounts need transferring
and opening, the FA coordinates a meeting between the operations person
and the new client in order to complete and execute the necessary
documents. The FA is the liaison between the Head, the client, and
operations. When a client has a problem with an account or requests funds,
he calls the FA-not the operations person.
• Operations Officer
In addition to opening accounts, facilitating transfers, and implementing all
trading requests, the operations person maintains the client database and
produces monthly reviews. (The FA is responsible for validating the
accuracy of those reviews.)
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8. Staff
 Investment Officer
Provides daily and monthly portfolio performance reports to the Head of
Asset Management. Interprets investment research information for the
Investment Committee to aid their investment decision making function.
Works closely with the research team. Monitors client’s investment
portfolios and portfolio management based on the clients investment policy
and decisions reached at the investment committee meetings.
 Secretary gives support to more than one person which is typical of a
departmental setup. She would handle documentation and mailings and
other responsibilities.
 Head of Asset Management
The Head has the primary relationship with the clients and makes individual
decisions with regards to the overall client base within the guidelines
established by the company policy. Coordinates the activities of the entire
unit and takes responsibility for the smooth running of the department.
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9. Staff Development
It would be our policy to first consider our staff during promotion. For this
reason each Financial Adviser should have or be working on his CIS (Chartered
Institute of Stockbrokers), CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) or CFP
(Chartered Financial Planner) designation with the goal of becoming chartered.
Financial Analysts are encouraged to attend professional functions and join
relevant local associations for networking and continuous professional
development.
Retreat
Once a year, an annual retreat would be held. This would involve scheduling a
full day away from the office, preferably at a hotel within the locality. All staff are
required to participate.
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10. Investment Committee
An investment committee would be set up comprising one external adviser, the
head of the department and all staff relevant to the decision making function.
The committee would meet at least once every month and the minutes would
be taken. The agenda would include the following:
 Overview of the economy
 Review of economic situation
 Stock market performance
 Capital market outlook
 Review/Updates on portfolios
 Investment Strategy/Portfolio management
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11. Services
The services shall include:
•Portfolio structuring (Asset selection, allocation and mandate
execution)
•Portfolio Management
•Portfolio Restructuring and Rebalancing
•Portfolio Reporting and Performance Monitoring
•Financial Advisory and planning services
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12. Services
We shall develop skills to be able to offer advisory services on the
following forms of investments:
•Equity
•Derivatives
•Bonds
•Real Estate
•Mutual Funds
•Commodities
Our advisory services will be anchored on the skills and experience of
our in-house advisory team, the pool of local independent advisors that
we have access to and collaboration with foreign associates which we
would develop.
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13. Unit Activities
We shall have weekly meetings to review
2)Environmental scanning
3)Market Performance (NSE, Global Markets and individual portfolios)
4)Research Reports (In-house and others)
5)Marketing efforts
6)Exchange of Ideas
7)Special education and training.
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14. Business Development
Marketing efforts shall be from problem solving or needs perspective,
and outcome of call memos shall be reviewed from the under listed
scenarios:
II.We cannot meet client primary needs; make referral.
III.Needs are broad based; comprehensive planning is required.
IV.Client is outside our focus
V.Client is a prospect for us and needs our services
We will do PowerPoint presentations to articulate how we plan to meet
the client’s needs.
All visits to clients must be documented and call memo written for
review by team leaders. The first call memo must be comprehensive
and contain the following information amongst others:
Company name, location, contact person (name, position), business,
investment policy
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15. Asset Management Strategy
Our strategy and initial focus would be on acquiring prospects and
clients with already existing portfolios held with failed or non-performing
investment houses. What we would do with such clients is to :
2.Transfer those assets to our organisation
3.Valuation of the portfolio
4.Comparison of portfolio (asset allocation) with the sectoral distribution
of the listed stocks
5.Comparison of the sectoral holding with indices of the sectors
6.Appraisal of portfolio past performance with the target
7.Recommendation on the structure of the portfolio
8.Presentation of the justification for rebalancing if need be
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16. Asset Management Strategy cont.
1. Set up of holding period return analysis template. Returns target
shall be based on investment objective of the client and the profit
taking trend in the market
2. Determination of performance target and provision of quarterly
returns
3. Classification of stocks into value and growth stocks and employing
the appropriate strategy to get optimal returns
Where we have to construct a new portfolio, we shall employ the
upmost professional skills and greatest care in selecting the right
combination of assets that will guarantee attainment of the desired
investment returns.
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17. Technology
As we know new technology is released at a very fast rate these days. That not
withstanding it is a very important aspect of every business and should be
mentioned at least even if in an informal way.
 Computers These should be new and fast, at least fast enough to compete
with the latest processor speeds, not necessarily the fastest in the market.
Today, that would be a Core i3, 4GB RAM, 500 HDD with wifi, webcam,
bluetooth and all important communication ports.
The screen should be at least 15”, preferably 17” with powerful graphics
processors.
 Printers This should come in LaserJet technology for best quality printing
(black and colour) with fax, wifi and eprint capabilities for seamless
connectivity and communication within the office network.
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18. Technology
 Backup A backup schedule must be developed using external hard drives
that must be stored safely. Backups may be done daily or weekly depending
on the sensitivity of the data in question.
 Scanner These days most documents are scanned and sent via email
before hard copies are sent via post mail. A flatbed scanner that provides at
least 600 dpi scanning capabilities should be employed.
 Internet This cannot be over emphasised as the use of the internet has
become part and parcel of the modern society. The best and fastest
available internet provider should be used. Vsat used to be commonly used
by ISP’s but Broadband and wifi are taking the lead with speeds as high as
10 mbps.
 Power Backup Owing to the erratic power supply from the power holding
company, it would be foolhardy not to have a standby generator as well as
the now commonly used inverters.
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19. Software
 Office Management
All computers will run genuine windows operating system and have installed
the latest Microsoft Office Suite applications. The most widely used
applications include Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Adobe Reader (for pdf
files).
 Portfolio Management
A robust portfolio management software should be used with the capacity to
meet future needs in terms of portfolio size and asset class diversity.
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20. Mobile Technology
 The use of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets for
communication has come to stay.
 Business is done at a fast pace and these devices help us keep up
with the flow of information in and outside the office.
 The Blackberry Smartphone has grown in popularity owing to its
security features that ensures the protection of sensitive information
on the device.
 Examples include Blackberry Smartphones and Apple Ipads
 There are mobile applications that allow the user monitor stock
prices, portfolios and the latest news as it happens e.g. Blue,
Bloomberg mobile, Reuters Insider, CNN, etc.
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21.  THANK YOU
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