2024 was the year of the ballot box, with the election in the UK bringing in its own new challenges. The IMF might have hailed Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ ‘sustainable’ tax rises in the November budget, but companies facing increased National Insurance contributions for their staff were not so sanguine.

Institutional Asset Manager’s editor, Gill Wadsworth, quoted Vanessa Havard-Williams, Chair of the Transition Finance Market Review, calling for a new industrial revolution needed to deliver the energy transition, a one in two-hundred-year event, which, she said presents significant opportunities, socially, environmentally and economically. The UK has the infrastructure, market and ambition to succeed, leveraging its capability as a commercial, financial and civil society leader, she said.

Last year, Wadsworth noted that the worsening geopolitical fractures in the Middle East and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine continued to add challenges for a sector already contending with fears of recession, persistent high inflation and rising interest rates.

Those things are by no means resolved a year on. And her concern about the disclosure standards and reporting on ESG investment remains a further issue.

This year’s hunt for alpha has seen the institutional investor turn increasingly to alternatives that offer diversification and long-term returns. And here the service provider steps up again with third-party providers emerging as a constant source of support for asset managers and their investors as they navigate these challenges and opportunities, providing technological innovation, and legal, compliance, custody, administration and investment consulting solutions.

Many congratulations to all our winners in this year’s Institutional Asset Manager Service Provider Awards and thank you to all the organisations that took the time and effort to enter. Read our interviews with a chosen few in this year’s report.

Importantly, we look forward to bringing you more news and events from this fascinating industry in 2025.

Beverly Chandler, managing editor, Institutional Asset Manager

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