Review/outlook series: Fund managers to expect "ruthless efficiency" from administrators

Fund managers will seek help from administrators to reduce costs in 2010, as slow fund growth continues, predicts Alastair Murray, HSBC’s Asia-Pacific head of fund services.

In what's been a tumultuous year in the financial markets, fund administrators have had a relatively unremarkable 2009.

Global fund administrators' business was, for the most part, steady in Asia. Increasing offshore investment flows -- for example, Thai investors poured $2 billion into Korean government bonds this year alone -- and opportunities created by gradual regulatory changes, such as Taiwan's opening of the foreign futures market to Taiwanese investors, were offset by lower overall asset prices. Even the recovery in markets since March has not been enough ...