Case Study
Insurer-owned asset manager turns to Cerulli to build brand credibility and asset flows

KEY QUESTIONS
Defining Opportunity
How does an insurer-owned asset management company build credibility and attract asset inflows? What are the right investor channels to target?
How do we do it?
The Cerulli Approach
Cerulli built an outside-in strategy to determine what investors want and an inside-out approach to discover what business leaders believe about the future of innovation and factors inhibiting growth.

Approach One
Outside-in:
Cerulli attained feedback from third-party institutional investors through qualitative sessions and quantitative analysis on the most important capabilities they seek from external managers. According to our findings, investors want:
- Asset class experience
- Innovative product
- Stability of performance
- Track record
- Regulatory awareness
- Competitive pricing due to scale of core fixed-income business
- Experience managing liquidity and capital charge requirements
- Experience with managing inflation and risk for long periods of time

Approach Two
Inside-out:
Our dialogue and quantitative feedback with internal business leaders and external market players found two significant challenges hindering growth of the asset management arm of the business. Our findings?
- Competing against pure-play asset managers and other in-house insurance asset managers
- Establishing the right degree of autonomy of the asset management affiliate
Spotlight
What’s brand got to do with it? Everything.
We took a hard look at the strength of the brand, evaluating perception and analyzing distribution resources. Focus points:
The Outcome
Cerulli's Strategic Recommendations
Proof Point
What Does the Data Say?
Insurance companies show greater preference for insurer-owned asset managers: 28% of insurance companies indicate that they are very likely to appoint an insurer-owned asset manager, with an additional 31% somewhat likely. 14% are unlikely to appoint an insurer-owned asset manager.
Our Subject Matter Experts:

Soo Ah Ran Cho
Associate Director
Bio →

Soo Ah Ran Cho
Associate Director
Soo is responsible for institutional and retail research in the Asian asset management industry. She is the lead analyst for the Institutional and Insurance research practice in Asia and contributes to Asian Retail reports, Asian Retirement Markets, Responsible Investing in Asia, Cerulli Edge publications, and consulting projects.
She has a background in institutional sales, product management, investment research, securities trading, and investment advisory. Prior to joining Cerulli, she worked at BNY Mellon Asset Management (HK), Fidelity International (HK), Eastspring Investments (SG), and Phillip Securities (SG).
Full biography here.

Justina Deveikyte, CAIA
Director
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Justina Deveikyte, CAIA
Director
Justina joined Cerulli Associates in February 2014 and heads the European Institutional Asset Management research practice. In her role, she is responsible for all research activities relating to institutional investors, the firm’s analysis of alternative investments, the environmental, social, governance (ESG) section, and all data-science-based activities. She also contributes to multiple strategic consulting engagements and The Cerulli Edge series.
Justina is the lead author of several Cerulli reports, covering insurance, retirement, ESG, and alternative investments. Throughout her career, she has successfully developed partnerships with industry associations and has presented at several conferences and events across the Europe.
Prior to joining Cerulli, Justina was a Financial Manager and Global Analyst at Global Food Consulting; she previously has provided professional advice on banking products, including unit-linked insurance and third-pillar pension products at SEB Bank Group.
Full biography here.

Laura Levesque, CFA
Director
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Laura Levesque, CFA
Director
Laura has over 15 years of institutional investment management industry experience. She is a member of the Institutional practice, where she leads research for two annual reports. Her focuses are institutional investment solutions including OCIO, and sales and services models. Her experience and knowledge of the institutional asset management space provide a directional framework to ongoing consulting projects. She also regularly contributes to The Cerulli Edge series.
Prior to joining Cerulli Associates, Laura held equity research, product, and analytics roles at Columbia Threadneedle and MFS Investment Management. She is a CFA charterholder and member of the CFA Society Boston.
Full biography here.

André Schnurrenberger, CFA
Managing Director, Europe
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André Schnurrenberger, CFA
Managing Director, Europe
André Schnurrenberger is the managing director of EMEA for Cerulli Associates and leads all research, consulting, and business activities in the region. Since joining Cerulli Associates, André has focused on wider distribution and product trends across European asset managers and has worked with some of the largest global investment firms, reviewing their product shelves, enhancing their business models, and helping them define strategies for future growth.
Prior to joining Cerulli, André spent 7 years at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, most recently as head of Business Management and Market Intelligence & Research for EMEA Distribution, and before that as Head of Performance. He held previous roles at UBS Wealth Management in Zurich and London, including Head of Investment Analytics and Performance.
Full biography here.

Christopher Swansey
Senior Analyst
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Christopher Swansey
Senior Analyst
Christopher is a senior analyst on the Institutional team where he supports multiple reports annually, including the annual outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) report, and various strategic consulting projects throughout the year. He also regularly contributes to The Cerulli Edge—Institutional Edition, The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Edition, and The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Monthly Product Trends.
Christopher was a Senior Analyst at Mercer working within their executive compensation practice before joining Cerulli in 2018.
Full biography here.

Ken Yap, CFA
Managing Director, Asia
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Ken Yap, CFA
Managing Director, Asia
Ken Yap is managing director of Cerulli’s Asia Pacific office. He oversees Cerulli’s business development strategy and research initiatives in the region. For more than 20 years, Ken has worked with asset managers, distributors, and financial institutions, identifying expansion opportunities with his deep knowledge of the market. He specializes in product development and market entry strategies into Asia’s established and emerging markets.
Prior to leading the Singapore office, Ken covered local and global asset management and distribution trends in Cerulli’s London and Boston offices. Before joining Cerulli, Ken was a consultant at Analysys’ Cambridge office in the U.K.
Full biography here.

Fabrizio Zumbo
Director
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Fabrizio Zumbo
Director
Fabrizio leads the European Retail/Wholesale Asset Management research practice, which focuses on analyzing asset management product development trends, investment, operational and marketing strategies, market and distribution dynamics, regulatory changes, and performing market and competitive intelligence in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and the Nordics.
Prior to joining Cerulli, Fabrizio served as a Lead Industry Analyst at State Street in London and as a Senior Analyst & Research Editor for the PwC’s Global Market Research Centre in Luxembourg. Previously, he carried out several field-based research projects in emerging and frontier markets for international market research and economic consulting firms, spending almost five years performing economic and industry analyses in several countries in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.
Full biography here.
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- Annual report
- The Cerulli Edge

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For 30 years, Cerulli Associates has been offering guidance to financial institutions for strategic positioning and new business development. We are industry's most trusted resource for strategic consulting and custom research, providing clear, actionable outcomes.