NEW YORK and LONDON, June 3, 2002 – kasina, an e-business
strategy consulting firm for the financial services industry, today announced the release
of its newest white paper, “European Asset Management e-Business: Online Retail
Strategies.” The report identifies the top 10 Web sites in the European retail asset
management industry and highlights best practices for mutual fund Web sites. It also names
the top three sites by country.
“As Internet usage in Europe becomes more ubiquitous,
we are seeing asset management Web sites evolve from brochure-ware into sales, marketing
and customer service tools designed to attract and retain retail investors,” said
Steven Miyao, chief executive officer of kasina.
“European Asset Management e-Business: Online Retail
Strategies,” is based on kasina’s analysis of 312 asset management Web sites from
Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. After ranking the sites
based on a set of pre-determined metrics, kasina conducted interviews with e-business
executives from the top 40 asset management companies with the most impressive online
presences. The results of those interviews were used to determine the top 10 Web sites, of
which five were German. The top sites in alphabetical order are as follows: Activest, ADIG
Investment, Cortal, Deutscher Investment Trust, DWS Investments, Fidelity Investments
(Germany), Fidelity Investments (UK), INVESCO PERPETUAL, JP Morgan Fleming Asset
Management (UK), and Newton Fund Managers.
kasina compared the top 10 sites with the 40 finalists and
the rest of the industry, and found a strong correlation between firm resources dedicated
to e-business strategy and Web site quality. With an average e-commerce budgets of
$2,491,071, the European asset managers with the top 10 Web sites had budgets that
were an average of 37 percent more than the finalists. These firms had an average of nine
or 10 e-business personnel on staff, compared with a team averaging six or seven people
for the finalist firms.
This gap in committed resources may explain the variations
in online services for the retail investor as well. According to the report, all of the
top 10 European Web sites offer the ability to check account balances online. Looking at
the next 30 finalists, 22 firms, or 73 percent, offer this service. Industry wide, just 38
percent of the firms surveyed allow shareholders to check their account balances online.
Nine out of the top 10 sites allow investors to purchase funds online as well. Among the
next 30 finalists, just seven, or 23 percent offer this service. Overall, only 20 percent
of the firms evaluated allow investors to purchase funds online. Nine out of the top 10
firms responded to an email inquiry within two days, whereas only 54 percent of the
overall asset management industry did so. Offering these investor-friendly features and
services appears to correlate positively with increased site traffic. The study found that
the top 10 sites attracted an average of 187,750 unique online visitors per month. This
number is significantly higher than that of the finalist Web sites, which averaged only
117,890 new visitors per month.
Alexandre Dussaucy, director of European business
development for kasina, noted, “Although our research indicates that the European
asset management industry has gained much ground over the past two years, there are many
areas where the Web sites of the industry as a whole are lagging behind the top European
sites. In general, European asset management firms need to develop better strategies to
capitalize on this crucial point of contact between the company and the investor.”
The white paper, which highlights best practices for
organizational structure, budget, technology, and more, is divided into seven sections:
The State of the Industry – Examines how leading European retail asset managers use the
Internet today. Includes statistics and details on the evolution of the industry.
Top 10 European Web sites – In-depth analysis of the 10 best retail Web sites.
Top 3 Country Web sites – Detailed Web site analysis of the three best retail sites
from each of the five countries surveyed. In alphabetical order, these are:
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Belgium- JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management, Schroders, Threadneedle Investments
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France – Cortal, Credit Lyonnais Asset Management, Fidelity Investments (France)
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Germany – Activest GmbH, ADIG Investment, DWS Investments
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Switzerland – Julius Baer, Pictet Fund Management SA, UBS Fund Management AG
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United Kingdom – Fidelity Investments (UK), INVESCO PERPETUAL, Newton Fund Managers
e-Business Strategy Survey – Analyzes the results of a kasina survey of e-business
managers from the top 10 European Web sites and the top three Web sites per country.
Future Developments – A look at key e-business developments that kasina anticipates for the
near future in the retail channel in Europe.
Tactical Action Steps – Steps for asset management companies to enhance their
Web site over the next year.
Strategic Recommendations – Considerations for developing
and refining asset management Web strategies over the next 18 months.
It can be purchased at
www.kasina.com/whitepapers/european/introduction.html.
