Asset Management

Asset management is the direction of all or part of a client's portfolio by a financial services institution, usually an investment bank, or an individual. Institutions offer investment services along with a wide range of traditional and alternative product offerings that might not be available to the average investor.

An asset management company serving as an advisor to a client has one overriding goal -- to substantially grow its client's portfolio. Asset managers are often hired by institutional investors like pension funds, corporations, and financial intermediaries, as well as high net worthindividuals.

Asset managers conduct research, interviews, and statistical analyses of companies, markets, and trends in order to determine what investments to make or avoid on behalf of their clients. Asset managers do not generally need "asset manager" licenses, though the firms that hire these managers often require registration with one or more exchanges and/or the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD).

In corporate finance, asset management requires finding ways to maximize a company's value by managing fixed and intangible assets to be more reliable, efficient, or cheaper -- including evaluating asset financing options, asset accounting methods, productions operation management, and maintenance discipline.