The decisive currency in asset management is alpha. Fund managers who are able to generate excess returns after fees with an active investment approach are sought-after specialists. SFI Prof. Olivier Scaillet from the University of Geneva kicked off the SFI–Capco Institute webinar on the subject of the "Role of Skills in Asset/Wealth Management". Based on empirical data from his research, he shed light on mutual funds’ investment and trading abilities to create value. The presentation of Prof. Scaillet is available here and the research paper can be downloaded here. 

In the subsequent panel discussion―chaired by Dr. Ingo Rauser, Senior Partner Switzerland at the Capco Institute―the various success factors that separate the wheat from the chaff were discussed. Barry Gill, Group Managing Director and Head of Investments at UBS Asset Management; Dr. Nannette Hechler-Fayd’herbe, CIO, International Wealth Management (IWM) and Global Head Economics & Research at Credit Suisse; Richard F. Lacaille, EVP and Global CIO at State Street Global Advisors; Sonja Laud, CIO at Legal & General Investment Management; and Prof. Scaillet addressed—among a range of questions, whether the current situation, in which managers deliver negative alpha after fees, is sustainable —how market efficiency influences alpha generating capabilities, and why there are few women in money management.