Investor Economics Insight January 2018 Annual Review

The Canadian investment fund business has arguably experienced more changes in the last five years than in the previous two decades combined. Many firms are incubating new concepts, or, having already done so, are evaluating new courses. The thesis of the annual issue of Insight is that the changes we have witnessed so far in the business model of wealth management providers, while often significant, are merely the first ripples of a rising tide. In other words, the industry is in its opening gambit of the transformation game, rather than in its endgame towards the brave new world of asset management of tomorrow. Supporting this view is the fact that much of the change to-date has occurred against the backdrop of supportive equity markets. Absent their benevolent impact on the industry asset base and sales environment, fundamental shifts in the nature of the asset management, its economic formulas and its delivery paradigms are bound to accelerate. How far could these changes take the industry? Suffice it to say, around the globe, denizens of wealth management business are beginning to rethink their traditional roles and altering their ethos. One day at a time.