Who’s got power? countries vs. asset management

As the Financial Times reports that the world’s four largest asset managers now control 61% of the industry’s assets, we take a look at the relative influence of countries, which are held accountable for their impact on climate, with major asset managers, whose commitments and impacts on systemic sustainability issues vary, at best. Case in point, the top four ranked D, E, E and D respectively on ShareAction’s Point of No Return responsible investment ranking of the world’s top 75 asset managers. 

This updates a similar table Preventable Surprises published in 2016. 

We are aware that an assets-to-GDP ratio compares stocks with flows. We use this indicator nonetheless in line with several international institutions (e.g. the OECD and the IMF) to provide a sense of the order of magnitude of the assets that institutional investors manage, and also because the value of financial assets is linked to discounted future cash flows. If readers think there is a better way to compare the size of economies with that of investors, please email us at [email protected]

Data sources:

Investment management data from the IPE Top 400 list 2019. GDP data from the IMF GDP (current prices) indicator for 2019. FX rate as of March 20, 2020.

Researcher:

Martin Kulczyk