The valuation of asset management firms

After reviewing the main valuation frameworks of asset management firms, we ran empirical research on 50 listed US and European asset management firms in the 2008-2017 period. Our results find that such firms are characterized by a high EBIT and earnings margin, respectively equal, on average, to 28% and 17% of revenues, represented by fees. The average yearly fees are equal to 1.04% of assets under management (AUM) and the average firm value is equal to 3.01%, confirming the values at which these companies are typically acquired on the market. Higher values are found to be significantly positively correlated with a higher earnings margin and a higher level of fees on AUM, confirming the previous findings of Joenväärä and Scherer (2017) on a smaller US sample.