An even punchier 95% said they are confident of revenue growth over the next three years.
PwC’s 18th ‘Annual Global CEO Survey’, gathered responses from 155 asset management CEOs across 46 countries.
The findings appear to fall in line with PwC’s recent white paper predicting global assets under management will exceed $100 trillion by 2020, up from $63.9 trillion in 2012.
On a darker note, the survey identified mounting worry over the increasing popularity of exchange traded funds and passive funds, and a recognition among CEOs that they must remain ‘vigilant on costs.’
Close to half of the CEO’s questioned, 46%, said they are aiming to cost cut in 2015 and a further 28% are looking to outsource.
Another notable finding was the growing realisation among CEOs that there is a skills shortage in the industry. Of those surveyed 68% of CEOs said they are ‘concerned about availability of key skills.’
The ever increasing news reports relating to hacking seem to be having an impact on CEOs with 63% saying they fear mounting cyber threats such as data security, and now consider them an ongoing business risk.
There also seems to be a reasonably widespread acceptance that there continues to be a lack of trust in the financial industry, with 61% of CEOs questioned saying this is a concern to them.
On the regulatory front, 67% of CEOs said an ‘internationally competitive and efficient tax system’ should be a government priority in their country, with half saying their governments have so far failed to achieve this.
CEO’s do see some positive aspects to the regulatory landscape however, with 53% saying improved regulatory coordination is increasing cross-border capital flows.
“Asset managers face a volatile environment over the next three years,” said Mark Pugh, PwC’s UK asset management leader. “Future success in this sector will depend on attracting not only the most skilled investment professionals, but also talented people in areas such as technology and risk management, which 77% of asset management CEOs are planning to do.
“Compared with three years ago, asset management CEOs see both greater opportunities and greater threats,” he added.
