TAKING THE REINS

suggested in their responses as key components of their relationships with asset managers, then looking at their level of satisfaction. The following section investigates those areas in which asset managers are performing well in, highlighting the need to continue to leverage upon these indicators. Areas in which asset managers are not matching expectation is covered afterwards and illustrates the deficit in satisfaction of certain criteria. Based on the survey results and interviews, we have developed the PwC-CACEIS Assurance Model as a basis for discussion which we believe if applied properly will enhance and strengthen the relationship between asset managers and institutional investors. While our report focuses on the qualitative assessment of the relationshipbetween institutional investors and assetmanagers, we have also put in the appendix some valuable results from our survey regarding the investments of institutional investors, their use of different investment vehicles and of external asset managers.

The results of our survey include the responses of European institutional investors, mainly pension funds, insurance companies and institutional investors’ trade associations accounting for over €4.5tn in assets. The geographical spread of participants has ensured a strong representation of European nations to allow for fair analysis of the institutional market as a whole (see figure 2).

This report gauges the satisfaction of some of the largest and most influential investors in the market and aims to provide:

• A better understanding of how institutional investors use external asset managers and the factors that drive institutional investors’ satisfaction; • Insights into future developments affecting relationships between institutional investors and asset managers; • Recommendations on how to optimise the asset manager relationship with institutional investors in the long term and on a sustainable basis.

The report follows a methodical and intuitive structure; first identifying the key criteria that institutional investors had

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