INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT: FUNCTIONS
MATTHEW ADAMS
Title: Relationship Manager –
Are there certain skills you would consider useful for your job?
Pensions
A good grounding in operations and/or accounting and the ability to stay
Current employer:
HSBC
abreast of an ever changing market place are important. Understanding
Previous employers:
markets, instruments and investment management techniques helps to
State Street Corporation;
understand why our clients do what they do and to confi dently converse
Northern Trust
on these subjects. To be an effective relationship manager it is
Professional qualifi cations:
imperative to build rapport both internally and with clients.
CFA Level I candidate; IMC; IAQ
How do you think the role you’re in now will change over time?
With the increased outsourcing of processing functions, roles are
What attracted you to this career path?
becoming increasingly knowledge based so keeping abreast of the
I wanted to deal directly with clients and be responsible for
trends and new developments will be crucial.
business strategy and development.
Do you have advice for someone intending to pursue the same
What are the major challenges you face in your position?
career path?
Ensuring continued client satisfaction against an ever changing
Obtaining a good grounding in an operational or accounting area, or
investment environment. Also, juggling changing requirements
an account manager role will provide a good understanding of
and the development of new products, with which comes the
clients’ objectives and investment strategies. Also, take the relevant
challenge of reviewing commercial agreements across
industry examinations, as these may be a requirement for certain
numerous product areas.
roles or simply help you stand out from the competition!
relationship building skills are optimal for the role, and sometimes
these people come from the sell-side. Whatever their background, they
“The game is changing.
have to understand both asset and liability management, and they have
to be extremely credible.”
People who are effective in
SKILL SET
Client relationship managers often also have a background in
capital raising and
investing themselves. Th ey must be able to talk in details about the
stocks in a portfolio, and they must report to the client as though
distribution are much more
they are the portfolio manager. On the private banking side of the
business, this is especially true, because clients have become much
more demanding.
valuable. In this world of
“Clients are increasingly sophisticated and knowledgeable about
products,” explains Alan Higgins, CFA, ASIP, executive director
open architecture and
and head of alternatives in the private wealth management
department at Morgan Stanley. “Information is freely available, and
there are an awful lot of people moving in to advise these people.”
competition, those who can
Relationship managers in private banking also have a broader
remit than those at asset managers or pension funds. Historically,
manage senior relationships
private banking relationship managers were able to talk about
investments, provide help with tax and auditing, all the while
producing last minute tickets to a much sought after opera and
create access”
remembering the birthdays of their clients. Th ough there are now
diff erent specialists for all aspects of managing a client’s money and
Iraj Ispahani, Korn Ferry International
aff airs, which is co-ordinated by the relationship manager, but he or
she may still get a phone call about the opera tickets. Flexibility,
open-mindedness, and an ability to co-ordinate all the clients needs
and requirements, is absolutely vital.
Cg
WWW.CFAUK.ORG CAREERS GUIDE 2009 39
330-55 investman_functions.indd 390-55 investman_functions.indd 39 222/11/08 11:59:312/11/08 11:59:31
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100