Global assets under management are back to where they were in 2007, with total AUM reaching $53 trillion at the end of 2010, according to Cerulli Associates. The Boston-based research firm notes that while it took less than six months to wipe out some $10 trillion in AUM in 2008 and the beginning of 2009, it has taken the better part of two years to put that back.
Cerulli says it believes that total AUM could reach $76 trillion by 2015, which suggests a five-year compound annual growth rate of 7.5%. This is marginally higher than Cerulli's forecast from 12 months ago, but lower than the 8.6% five-year CAGR estimated in 2008.
While global assets recovered to 2007 levels in 2010, the same can't be said for revenues, which rose $12 billion to $162 billion at the end of 2010, $10 billion off the 2007 level of $172.6 billion.
Pressure From Several Places
Cerulli writes that pressure on revenues is going to come from several places: reallocation from equities to fixed income and cash; reallocation from active to passive and low-cost active; and the continued threat of competitive alternatives to mutual funds, and collectives in general.
