21. The Investment Process

While being at the core of every asset manager’s business, the investment process is a discipline that is still subject to continuous efforts for professionalisation and standardisation. The reasons are manifold. First, clients are becoming more demanding and the evaluation of the investment process is an integral part in their choice of the investment manager. Furthermore, in Germany an increasing number of institutional clients rely on consultants in their choice of an asset manager, a development pioneered in the Anglo-Saxon investment business. These consultants also put the quality of the investment process at the top of their priority lists, when it comes to evaluating asset managers. And finally, asset managers themselves recognise the benefits of a rigorous investment process for their business.