Institutional Investors Taking Longer to Change Investment Managers or Asset Allocations, According to Mellon Transition Management

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May 31, 2011, 07:47 ET

LONDON and SAN FRANCISCO, May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Institutional investors are taking far longer to change investment managers or asset allocations than they did before the 2008 financial crisis, according to Mellon Transition Management (MTM), the transition management specialist for BNY Mellon Asset Management and which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary.

"Since the financial crisis began in 2008, we have seen institutions take as long as a full year to complete the transitioning of their assets away from one investment manager to another after beginning their initial consultations with us," said Mark Keleher, co-founder of MTM and its chief executive officer. "This compares with a typical period of approximately two to four weeks before the crisis began."

MTM attributes the longer time periods to heightened compliance scrutiny across the institutional investment landscape as plan sponsors and investment managers deal with regulatory changes and governance challenges. Transition management trends that began after the financial crisis are continuing today, as institutions continue to move money away from home country equities to both longer term corporate bonds and international equities, Keleher said.

"Transition management has evolved significantly since we opened our doors 10 years ago," Keleher said. "While this service originated as a low cost way to change asset allocations or investment managers, the focus is now much more on risk control. Increasingly, transition assignments involve multiple asset classes, illiquid securities, global markets and derivative overlays."

Part of the MTM group, BNY Mellon Beta Management, facilitates rebalancing programs and synthetic asset class exposure through the use of futures, swaps, index funds, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and can serve as a low-cost passive manager similar to an indexer over intermediate horizons. The business, which was started in 2008, has over $4.5 billion in notional overlay under management.

Notes to editors

Mellon Transition Management and BNY Mellon Beta Management are divisions of The Bank of New York Mellon, a wholly-owned banking subsidiary of BNY Mellon.

BNY Mellon Asset Management is the umbrella organisation for BNY Mellon's affiliated investment management firms and global distribution companies.

BNY Mellon is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 36 countries and serving more than 100 markets. BNY Mellon is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, offering superior investment management and investment services through a worldwide client-focused team. It has $25.5 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $1.2 trillion in assets under management, services $11.9 trillion in outstanding debt and processes global payments averaging $1.7 trillion per day. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available at www.bnymellon.com.

All information source BNY Mellon Asset Management as at 31/03/11. This press release is qualified for issuance in the UK and US and is for information purposes only. It does not constitute an offer or solicitation of securities or investment services or an endorsement thereof in any jurisdiction or in any circumstance in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful or not authorised. This press release is issued by BNY Mellon Asset Management (US) and BNY Mellon Asset Management International Limited (ex-US) to members of the financial press and media and the information contained herein should not be construed as investment advice. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Registered office of BNY Mellon Asset Management International: BNY Mellon Centre, 160 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4LA. Registered in England no. 1118580. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority

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SOURCE BNY Mellon