Rising costs and falling fees mean asset managers need to cut expenses or risk having to shut business units and close investment strategies, warns Casey Quirk.

Non-pay related expenses now account for around a third of total outlay at many companies, the industry consultant and McLagan, the data provider, found in their annual Performance Intelligence analysis. Costs of regulation, back-office processing, technology and office rent rose above 30% for assets managers in 2018, from 26% in 2014.