Paying the price for industrialising investment

It may be one of the best explanations yet for why the global financial crisis occurred: genuine relationships got processed away in what became an industrialisation of the investment business, says Elizabeth Corley, Europe CEO of Allianz Global Investors

It is hardly a light matter given the financial fallout of the past year, but if Elizabeth Corley, Europe CEO of Allianz Global Investors smiles slightly when passing such a damning judgement, it is perhaps because she can afford to. The firm has just produced a sparkling set of corporate results, in a year everyone else considered the worst for at least a generation. AllianzGI can point to top-quartile profitability and net flows relative to peers, investment outperformance and stability in its management teams and processes. In 2009, as others floundered and cut back, the company inves...