Investment management

Investment management is the professional asset management of different securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, in order to accomplish stated investment objectives for the benefit of investors. Investment management encompasses a wide range of activities. Investors can be institutions such as insurance companies, pension funds, corporations, charities, educational establishments, or private investors. Investment can take place either directly through investment contracts or, more commonly, through collective investment schemes such as mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, or real estate investment trusts (REITs).

The administration of investment funds is often referred to as "asset management," but the broader concept of "fund management" may relate to any and all types of institutional investment, in addition to the management of investments made on behalf of private investors. Investment managers who focus on advising or discretionary management on behalf of private clients (who are often rich) may frequently refer to the services they provide within the framework of "private banking" as money management or portfolio management. While managing a client's wealth, financial advisers have a more comprehensive perspective on the customer as a whole and allocate funds to a variety of asset management techniques.

In the United States, the word "fund manager" refers both to a company that offers services in the area of investment management as well as the person who is in charge of directing the choices that are made about fund management.

The value of assets managed professionally for fees hit a new all-time high of $62.4 trillion in 2012, according to a research conducted by the Boston Consulting Group. Before to that year, the value of assets managed professionally for fees had remained relatively constant at $70.2 trillion.

The five biggest asset managers now control 22.7 percent of the total assets that are held externally. Yet, according to the Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index, the market concentration in 2018 may be assessed to be 173.4, which indicates that the sector is not too concentrated.