PAMOnline - online private asset managers directory guide by Pam Insight Group

PAM Award Categories
The aim of the Awards Programme is to gather market data on the relative performance of the leading private asset management firms, including private banks, fund managers and stockbrokers.

We ask the judges to name the top managers whom they believe to be the best in each of the categories below on the basis of specific criteria (as shown in brackets):

Investment Performance: Defensive Portfolios (Criterion: The institution that has, as a whole, most consistently delivered the best risk-adjusted total annual investment returns for clients for defensive investment mandates over the past three years, net of fees and before tax. As a guide, the portfolio should demonstrate short to medium dated bond-like characteristics of return, with equal or less volatility. Any asset class or structure may be considered, provided that liquidity can be assured.)
Investment Performance: Defensive Portfolios (Criterion: The institution that has, as a whole, most consistently delivered the best risk-adjusted total annual investment returns for clients for balanced investment mandates over the past three years, net of fees and before tax. As a guide, the portfolio should contain multiple asset classes and provide international diversification – no one asset class should represent more than 75% of total assets and no single region/geographic area should represent more than 60%. The volatility of the portfolio is expected to be greater than that of international bonds but less than 0.8 times that of international equities. Hedge funds and hedge fund-of-funds should normally represent no more than 30% of the portfolio.)
Investment Performance: Growth Portfolios (Criterion: The institution that has, as a whole, most consistently delivered the best total annual investment returns for clients for growth investment mandates over the past three years, net of fees and before tax. As a guide, there are no constraints on the type of asset class, or level of volatility that can be included within the portfolio.)
Best Use of Alternative Investment Classes (Criterion: The institution that has used alternatives to best effect, either as instruments in their own right, or in combination with traditional asset classes, either to reduce volatility, or to boost risk adjusted portfolio returns net of fees, before tax, or both. As a guide, any and all alternative asset classes are eligible for this category, i.e. not just hedge funds.)
Best Use of Long-Only Multi-Manager Structures (Criterion: The institution that has used long-only multi-manager structures to best effect to boost risk adjusted portfolio returns, net of fees, before tax. As a guide, the use of long-only multi-manager structures must be shown to be an integral part of the investment process that adds another dimension.)
Image & Reputation – Small Boutiques (Criterion: The institution with less than Ł2 billion under management whose full range of activities has made the most positive impression in the past twelve months.)
Image & Reputation – Large Institutions (Criterion: The institution (with more than Ł2 billion under management) whose full range of activities has made the most positive impression in the past twelve months.)
Quality and Clarity of Reporting (Criterion: The institution that has most consistently provided the most regular, comprehensive and clear client account reports)
Product or Service Innovation (Criterion: The institution that has created the most innovative investment management solutions to boost risk adjusted portfolio returns.)
Overall Service Quality – UHNW Clients (Criterion: The institution that has offered the best overall service to clients with more than Ł10 million in investible assets, covering - inter alia - performance, administration, relationship management, accessibility and product delivery. As a guide, this award includes the past five years’ track record of client retention, investment performance, quality of reporting, innovation and the ratio of client-facing staff vs. clients.)
Overall Service Quality – HNW Clients (Criterion: The institution that has offered the best overall service to clients with more than Ł500,000 and less than Ł10 million in investible assets, covering - inter alia - performance, administration, relationship management, accessibility and product delivery. As a guide, this award includes the past five years’ track record of client retention, investment performance, quality of reporting, innovation and the ratio of client-facing staff vs. clients.)

Order of Merit
The PAM Awards Programme in the High Net Worth class again features three classes of the leading managers in each Award category: commended, shortlisted and winner.

PAM Judging Panel
Given the greater sophistication and demands of high net worth investors, manager evaluation is carried out via a panel of leading experts who combine their market expertise to deliver a combination of quantitative performance attribution analysis with their experience of live client portfolios held with managers in the market.

In this class the private asset management firms enter themselves for individual award categories via the completion of an exhaustive questionnaire, including 99 questions across nine subject areas, encapsulating: group structure & personnel; investment management process; banking, custody and controls; regulation and investor protection; investment performance; fees, charges and interest; reporting and instructions; and conflicts of interest disclosures.

All manager entries delivered by the deadline are presented to members of the Panel. Each entry is examined by Panel members, who rank in ascending order of their individual preference, with 1 as the highest rank.

All of the Panel members’ votes are then returned and computed, by combining scores for each manager entry to establish an average. The managers are then placed in order, starting with the lowest average score (the highest ranked firm).

This list is then presented to the Panel in closed plenary session. The Panel debates the respective merits of the nominated firms and determines the (unlimited) number of managers to be shortlisted for each Award category.

The Panel then discusses and evaluates the shortlisted managers, from which it chooses a winner in each Award category.