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I'm at the Future of Asset Management Conference 2024 with Donald Sanya of RBC Global Asset Management. Donald, you were tapped as CEO. What are your priorities in the new role?
So I started my role at the end of July of this year. And my three main priorities for the first 90 days are, one, spending time with our clients and really understanding what their needs and how we can serve them better.
Secondly is working on really understanding our culture better. So I'm spending time going to all our offices here in the US– we have four offices– spending time with employees and understanding what aspects of that culture that they really value and how we can use that as a competitive advantage.
And then third is really beginning to think of our strategic plan for the next five years. So we're working with our leadership team to pull that together.
What is the key to your strategic plan?
So there's three areas that we are really seeing significant opportunity in the U.S. One is emerging markets. Two is fixed income. And third is alternatives. And so within emerging markets, we've established ourselves as a specialist in EM across both debt and equity strategies and in traditional and alternative strategies as well.
And then when you look at the fixed income side, under BlueBay fixed income, we manage $126 billion in fixed income, both domestic and non-U.S. fixed income. And we are looking to continue to grow that business.
And then third is our alternatives area. Alternatives continue to become a big part of client portfolios. And it's an area that we are really spending our time talking to our clients about and designing products for them.
Can you talk me through the private market side of your business? What capabilities do you have? And are you planning to grow and expand, and how?
So one of the areas that we're really excited about is our emerging markets private markets franchise. So we have a liquid credit fund that steps in and provides liquidity to high-quality corporates in the emerging markets space. So when you think about bank lending, some banks are treating that space. And we're stepping in and giving loans to these organizations at really significant premiums.
And many of our clients like this because it's a diversifier in their portfolio. When they look at the developed markets portfolios that are pretty well built out now, then they're looking for other strategies that can come in and complement what they have in their portfolio.
To grow that platform, are you looking to grow organically? Is there a scope for M&A?
So a lot of our efforts today are organic growth. However, with that being said, we are always in the market looking for opportunities that make sense for us. And when you think of inorganic growth, it really has to fit a few things for us to consider it. One would be a cultural fit with the organization.
And then, secondly, is this in an area where we have the right to play in the US market and the right to play with our clients? And so we are always open to that. We haven't had any recent M&A transaction. We're really focused on the products that we've launched and are growing organically today.
Donald, thank you very much for your time today.
Thanks, Bridget.
In a recent interview with FundFire, Donald Sanya, CEO of RBC Global Asset Management-U.S. explains his key priorities and how he is looking to expand the U.S. business.