Handbook of Investment Administration

Chapter 1

WEALTH MANAGEMENT

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The activities undertaken by staff working in investment administration are essential to the successful delivery of investment services and products.

None of these products can deliver what the client expects if dividends do not arrive on time, trades are not placed correctly, purchases and sales do not settle on time, corporate actions are misinterpreted or shares are not correctly transferred when a new account is opened.

There are a myriad of activities that need to be undertaken for an investment account to function smoothly and it does not matter whether this is for a customer who only has a few holdings in his stocks and shares ISA or it is for a wealthy client with a discretionary managed investment account.

For these to run smoothly requires an efficient investment administration function staffed by a team of knowledgeable investment professionals.

Before we can begin to understand the many and varied functions involved in investment administration, we need to appreciate the range of investment products and services that are offered within the wealth management industry that it supports.

This chapter on wealth management provides an overview of the wealth management market and looks at the key role that investment administration plays in enabling these functions to operate effectively.

1.2 WEALTH MANAGEMENT MARKET

Before we look at some key data about the market for retail investment services, we need to undertake a brief review ...