By Daniel Godfrey
Most people don’t know what investment management is and even fewer understand what asset managers do. But what this industry does is really important, both for individuals and the economy as a whole.
As the new chief executive of the Investment Management Association (IMA), I want us to focus on this importance to people in a new expression of our purpose, which underlines the inherent value of our work and which will drive everything we do in the future.
First, our purpose is to ensure that investment managers are in the best possible position to build people’s resilience to financial adversity, to help them achieve their financial aspirations and to enable them to maintain a decent standard of living as they grow older.
And secondly, our purpose is of vital importance because the investments that investment managers make and the stewardship they provide to companies help deliver long-term, sustainable returns. This creates jobs and drives economic growth, which produces tax revenues and which in turn provides the money for spending on infrastructure, education and welfare.
By focusing on our purpose, we’ll concentrate on three long-term goals that will enable the industry to fulfil its potential to make a real and positive difference to people’s lives. The first is to drive excellent industry standards and operating practices. However good we are, we can always raise the bar and it is our responsibility as an industry to have a relentless focus on how we can do things better and more cost effectively, with simpler and better communication for the benefit of our clients.
The second is to build the best possible operating environment for investment managers so they can concentrate on doing a great job. This means working with regulators and politicians to build regulatory regimes that are effective, trusted to protect clients, simple to follow and cost effective. We also need to build public policies and appropriate tax regimes that encourage long-term investment.
Finally, we have to build a trusted and growing industry. To do this, we need to play our part in the development of financial capability, the understanding of the need for long-term savings and the value of investment management. We need to demonstrate our commitment to clients in the way we embrace ever-improving standards and two-way communication. Success leads to trust and trust leads to more people being more likely to make adequate and appropriate long-term savings. I know that investment managers take their responsibilities very seriously indeed.
At the IMA the importance of our work and belief in our purpose gives us the best possible reason to get up every morning and come to work excited by what we do.
Daniel Godfrey is chief executive of the Investment Management Association
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