How does an Asset Management Company Make Money?

Swetha Dhinesh

14 Mar, 2023

Investment companies, called asset management companies, provide a variety of services to their clients. Often, they handle private accounts for other businesses and sell products like mutual funds or exchange-traded funds. They demand fees in return for their services, which are typically expressed as a percentage of the managed assets.

A variety of clients, including retail, institutional (pension or sovereign wealth funds), insurers, banks, private clients, and wealth managers, are served by asset management organisations. Asset management products are pooled investments, frequently exchange-traded or mutual funds, in which the corporation may be actively or passively involved.

What is an Asset Management Company?

An asset management company (AMC) is a business that pools money from individual investors and invests it in securities with the aim of giving them the best return possible in exchange for a fee. By investing in both high-risk and low-risk instruments, including stock, debt, real estate, shares, bonds, pension funds, etc., AMC maintains the variety of its portfolio.

When choosing any security to achieve the return on investment targets, factors such as industry risk, market risk, return risk, and political risk are taken into account. To keep risk to a minimum, a debt fund, for instance, invests in bonds and risk-free government bonds^[1]. An equity-oriented fund, on the other hand, will invest in shares and equities that have a high risk and high return.

How do they operate and earn money?

A company that manages assets decides how to use them in the most profitable way possible for its clients. It effectively handles investment capital. Every AMC is administered by a fund manager and staff and has a mutual fund theme. In order to establish a financial goal, the organisation carefully researches the market and evaluates each statistic.

When investors put their trust in a fund house, also known as an AMC, they anticipate getting the most out of the profit these money managers share with them. They come in many types and are categorised as exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, private equity funds, index funds, etc.

Asset management companies generate revenue by charging clients fees in exchange for managing their financial assets. Also, their fee is typically set at a specific proportion of the client’s overall assets under management (AUM). The total amount of assets that AMCs handle is known as AUM.

Earnings of Asset Management Company

Customers pay fees to support the asset management company’s expenses. Asset managers charge a variety of fees for their products in order to cover their expenses and turn a profit. Below are the following ways in which the company that is managing the assets will earn money.

• Earnings in the form of expense ratio 
  Investors are required to pay asset management firms a specified fee in the form of an expense ratio. The charge is expressed as a percentage of the organisation’s assets under management (AUM). The amount of money that AMC has got to invest is another way to describe AUM.
  Prior to paying investors, expense ratios are often subtracted from the total revenue generated by a mutual fund. Larger expense ratios mean that a greater percentage of returns are lost, which results in a lower return on investments.
  As expense ratios have a negative impact on annual returns, investors should carefully consider them when selecting a mutual fund plan. It should be noted that a mutual fund’s net return will be 12-2.5 = 9.5% if it has an annual return of 12% and a 2.5% expense ratio.
• Making money with exit load charges
  Exit loads are fees assessed by the AMC in the event that the investor breaches the agreement to keep the investment for the predetermined period of time.
  Most mutual funds have a lock-in period, which implies that after an individual has invested in one scheme, he or she cannot withdraw the funds for a set amount of time. The length of this time ranges from 7 days to 5 years.
  Investors must pay call exit load fees and additional costs to the AMC if they fail to keep their money in the account throughout the lock-in period. This fee ranges from 1% to 3%.
• Consultancy fees
  The AMCs occasionally offer their research analysis and investment advice in return for a certain charge. This is yet another revenue stream for AMC. The advising fees imposed by AMCs are subjective and dependent on variables such as profit potential, risk tolerance, customer preferences, base capital, etc.
  These advising fees may be paid upfront, on a subscription basis, or through profit-sharing. So, the type of payment terms entirely depends on the mutual understanding of the client and the AMC.
• Costs associated with portfolio management services
  AMCs offer high-net-worth investors portfolio management services to help them manage their money. The desired investor may view this as a personal mutual fund.
  The AMCs typically charge a hefty fee for such services since portfolio management necessitates extensive study, and the AMC takes a considerable risk to achieve the expectations.

How are the funds managed by an AMC?

Direct mutual fund investments can be made through an asset management firm (AMC). The company is primarily in charge of managing the mutual fund and making choices that are advantageous to investors. It makes investments in accordance with the scheme’s investment goals under the direction of a fund manager. The general steps are described below.

Asset Allocation – The specific investment aim of mutual funds aids the fund manager in selecting the assets in which investments can be placed. As an illustration, the majority of debt-oriented funds manage a sizeable amount of their assets in bonds and other fixed-income securities. Another illustration is how the majority of balanced funds blend their investments in stocks and fixed-income assets.

Market analysis – A lot of research and analysis of the performance of the asset classes goes into building the fund’s portfolio. Specialists conduct market, micro, and macroeconomic analyses and communicate their findings to the fund manager, who bases investment choices on the fund’s goals.

Developing Portfolio – The fund manager is often informed of market trends and results by a team of researchers and analysts who work for an AMC. The fund manager then determines which securities to acquire or sell on the basis of these results and the investing goals of the fund. This is how a business develops a portfolio, which is primarily reliant on the knowledge and skill of the fund manager.

Performance Evaluation – AMCs are required to give unitholders information that directly affects their mutual fund investments. Additionally, it must regularly update investors on sales and repurchases, NAV, portfolio information, and other matters. Simply put, AMCs have a responsibility to represent and protect the interests of mutual fund participants. Additionally, they must address client complaints about their mutual fund schemes.

Conclusion

The system of investment banking is not complete without an asset management firm. They are essential in the process of gathering money from investors and investing a pool of money in various portfolios in accordance with the needs and demands of their clients. With restrictions on minimum investment amounts and risk reduction related to the assets, they assist individual investors in profiting from investments in high-value securities. By managing assets,  companies offer investment solutions to a wide variety of different clients. By charging clients in exchange for managing their financial assets, the AMCs are generating revenue.

Also Read:
What is an Asset Management Company(AMC)?
Eligibility Criteria of an Asset Management Company