Asset management divisions within big banks have always been a solid revenue source but recently they have taken on greater importance with traditional profit drivers taking hits; some of Wall Street’s biggest banks in JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs have fallen well behind the big asset managers BlackRock and Vanguard who are the top asset managers and are able to provide investors with low cost options; the banks have also jumped on the ETF train as more and more investors choose passive investing strategies; “This access to end clients provides significant opportunities for bank-owned asset managers but we recognize that we have to do it better and cheaper than our competitors,” Head of Wells Fargo Asset Management Nico Marais said to the FT; investing in new technologies like AI and machine learning are also helping the banks to better position their offerings to clients. Financial Times
