Central banks are seeking external assistance in building internal capability as well as for investment strategy and execution
Central bank decisions on the allocation and risk profile of the investment tranche allocations are generally made internally. Reserves managers
are seeking wider assistance in building internal investment frameworks to support their growing appetite for risk asset exposure, whether through asset management mandates or collaboration with academic and multi-lateral institutions such as the World Bank. Central banks will continue to look to external managers for their technical advisory and systems support (figure 34), as sovereigns have done over many years.
While 87% of central bank respondents use an asset manager within their entire reserves portfolio, there is less usage when building the first investment tranche (figure 35). This reflects a bias to first develop internal capacity before outsourcing to external asset managers for alpha generation and expansion into new asset classes. Central banks are reluctant to convert relationships into ongoing mandates until they have developed the capacity to oversee the risks incurred by external asset managers. Those that elect to allocate assets to external managers include requirements to continue supporting central banks in developing their own internal management capability. External managers must be patient and offer real value through transfer of experience, processes and technology, and must then have a sufficiently compelling value proposition to sustain a long-term commercial relationship.
42
Fig 34. Future asset manager support requirements
(% citations, current users of external managers)
Technology advisory
83
Systems support
Custodian services
Broker relations
Sample comprises of central banks who use external managers to manage assets.
Sample=24.
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_026722