New research from global analytics firm Cerulli Associates finds that institutional sales teams are adding personnel to their sales and service teams in the United States.
“We surveyed institutional sales managers about the types of changes they are making to their sales and service teams, and found, regardless of firm size, the majority of asset managers are focused on adding headcount,” states Alexi Maravel, associate director at Cerulli. “They plan to add headcount to nearly all groups, except relationship management, where headcount will remain the same.”
“Some institutional asset managers deliberately increase its client service and portfolio specialist headcount, because after the business is won, these relationships are immediately taken over by client service personnel,” Maravel explains.
“Institutional sales and service teams are typically structured to support portfolio management so that the firm’s investment personnel spend minimal time traveling and can focus on managing assets.”
“Managers that we spoke with also expressed interest in hiring junior associates for their sales, consultant relations, and client service teams,” Maravel continues. “Individuals in these roles are tasked with the more operational aspects of sales and service departments, such as intelligence and data-gathering, finding opportunities in territories, and assisting with creating slide decks that will be presented to clients and prospects.”