A report by the US-based consultancy examines how Asian institutions are increasingly looking at consultants for advice on picking asset managers, but still lag their peers in Europe and the US in this respect.

Asian institutional investors don’t use consultants in advising on which asset managers to hire and fire to the extent their counterparts in the US and Europe do, but firms in the region are aware of the need to get onto clients’ radar screens, a report says.

A 108-page report by Cerulli Associates, called Asian Business Strategies: Making the Breakthrough, looks at the mutual fund markets of Asia, including Japan but excluding Australia. It finds that some central banks and pension schemes in Asia are increasingly using consultants as ways to get managers.

Managers encounter consultants the most during the request-for-proposal (RFP) and manager-selection stages. Being on a consultant's list and being highly ranked can be a way to win mandates, or get a foot in an Asian institution's door, the report said.

One reason for use of consultants is that institutions can cite their involvement as a stamp of approval.

Editor’s note: While the Cerulli Associates report does not explicitly mention institutions such as private banks and family offices, the term “institution” certainly can cover such entities, so the findings of its report may be relevant to our readers. One point about the report’s finding that Asian institutions are not yet big users of consultants is that they may be reluctant to pay the consultants’ fees, or have much confidence they add significant value to the process. With so much focus on the need to control costs in today's sometimes uncertain climate, this is hardly surprising if was the case. As with retail and private client wealth management, the end-investor will want to know if the cost of hiring experts to select managers is worth it. However, as the report states, institutions may feel they must use consultants on some decisions so they have a "seal of approval" for their decisions - sometimes vital if those choices are later challenged, as can sometimes happen.