When the going gets tough, get close to clients. That’s the message senior distribution leaders gave to Citywire Amplify when we met in Berlin.

It has been a hard year. As an industry, asset management has certainly had it better. The S&P 500 is down 16%, and listed fund group share prices are down, on average, 26%. A decade of market-fuelled growth is, probably, over. From now on, the talent of distribution departments may be relied upon more than ever.

Amplify spoke to a group of Europe’s top fund salespeople. And, before looking at the challenges (and opportunities) that lie ahead for sales departments, we wanted to know what successes they had pulled from the jaws of market selloffs and rate hikes.

‘The lesson to learn is to be close to clients,’ said Eurizon Capital’s head of international business development, Gabriele Miodini.

Richard Garland, head of Ninety One’s global advisor business, agreed. ‘This will sound strange, but the success of 2022 was getting in touch with clients again.’

Covid-19 lockdowns prevented face-to-face contact with existing and prospective clients, he said. While 2022 has been a bad year for sales, it’s been an opportunity ‘to re-engage properly, looking to next year’.

In this video are:

• Steven DeVries, head of wholesale distribution for the UK, Europe and Latin America at Legal & General Investment Management;
• Micaela Forelli, head of European distribution at M&G;
• Richard Garland, head of Ninety One’s global advisor business; and
• Gabriele Miodini, head of international business development at Eurizon Capital.