ARLINGTON, Va., May 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, Willis Towers Watson’s (NASDAQ: WLTW ) Asset Management Exchange (AMX) has doubled its assets under management, from $750 million to more than $1.5 billion, just three months after its launch.
The open architecture exchange aims to fundamentally transform institutional investment by providing asset owners with a smarter, easier and cheaper way to engage with managers while offering them access to significant capital on a global basis. Through its centralized back-office and standardized fund infrastructure, AMX bypasses the investment industry’s significant cost and resource duplication, delivering scale benefits to both sides of the market while improving transparency and asset owner control.
“AMX has brought the digital revolution to institutional asset management, and both asset owners and managers have been swift to embrace it,” said Oliver Jaegermann, global head of AMX. “The initial response to AMX illustrates the appetite among institutional investors for a centralized marketplace that gives buyers better choice and control, while managers welcome an innovation that opens up access to new customers and allows them to focus on developing and executing their investment strategies instead of spending their resources on packaging them for sale.”
Willis Towers Watson committed a significant financial investment into the development of AMX, which represents the continuation of its corporate strategy of building client-oriented solutions and operating marketplaces. A dedicated team of over 25 people is already in place and continuing to grow to satisfy demand for the exchange. The capital currently on the exchange comes from clients of the company’s Investment business, but the open architecture nature of the exchange means it has also appealed to other investor bases, both inside the firm and externally.
AMX is open to institutional asset owners to benefit from the economies of scale that will increase in line with asset growth. In addition, the exchange takes on the development of product packaging, allowing asset managers to focus solely on investing. The capital currently on the exchange comes from clients of the company’s UK Investment business where it is already licensed to be distributed to institutional investors, but the open-architecture nature of the exchange means that it can appeal to other investor bases – both inside the firm and externally.
AMX, which launched in the U.K. in February 2017, is initially focusing on providing cost-effective and simpler access to hedge fund strategies, with additional asset classes following later in the year.
Notes to editors
AMX is designed to centralize the investment process, making implementation and monitoring more efficient through:
- Reduced duplication of cost, resource and time
- Economies of scale in relationships with other service providers, such as market counterparties, clearers and prime brokers
- Standardized legal documentation
- Timelier and more accurate reporting through centralized data
- Reduced complexity via standardized infrastructure and a centralized back office
AMX secures better pricing because of the buying power of the exchange by:
- Leveraging scale to negotiate lower fees with investment managers
- Centralizing operating costs, such as custody and administration at the exchange, thereby lowering operating expenses.
AMX offers enhanced investor control via an independent risk oversight function and single portfolio interface to centralize and standardize compliance, minimizing distractions from the core investment function while providing greater investor confidence.
About AMX
AMX is an institutional asset management marketplace designed to bring greater efficiency to the institutional asset management industry globally and was established by Willis Towers Watson in 2017. AMX is a global marketplace where asset owners can invest in external asset managers and where asset managers can access significant capital while cutting value leakage. AMX provides centralized back-office and standardized fund infrastructure, reducing cost and resource duplication, delivering scale benefits to both sides of the market while increasing transparency and asset owner control. For more information go to www.theamx.com or @theAMXchange .
Media contact Ed Emerman: +1 609 275 5162 eemerman@eaglepr.com
