These firms are being recognized for thriving and being leaders in the institutional investing market.

TwentyFour Asset Management, a boutique of Vontobel Winner

As of March 31, Vontobel held $289 billion of total client assets.

Through two specialist boutiques, Vontobel provides various actively managed fixed-income strategies. These investment profiles range from those targeting an attractive level of income with a focus on capital preservation to those targeting higher returns from more specialist assets and a dynamic, research-driven approach.

One boutique, TwentyFour Asset Management, is a specialist active fixed-income manager that targets the best risk-adjusted returns from across global bond markets. The key differentiator is the portfolio’s truly global investment universe.

“In our experience, many of the most popular U.S.-based ‘global’ fixed-income portfolios tend to exhibit a significant home bias, which means they may lack diversification and can potentially miss out on opportunities further afield,” a spokesperson tells Chief Investment Officer. “We think our global approach is essential given the divergence in the economic outlook and monetary policy environment between regions, which has become even more pronounced amid the macroeconomic uncertainty stemming from tariffs.”

As an example, Koch says TwentyFour Asset Management’s exposure to European markets tends to be consistently higher than the firm’s larger U.S.-based peers.

“Our truly global approach allows us to target relative value opportunities in different currencies,” the spokesperson says. “Importantly, we hedge all our foreign currency exposure back to the dollar, which helps to protect investors during periods of volatility in [foreign exchange] markets, such as the one we have experienced post-April 2.”

According to the spokesperson, the company has been working on integrating artificial intelligence to enhance its client services in three key areas: customization, productivity and decisionmaking.

“For customization, AI is utilized to tailor investment advice to clients, taking into account their specific portfolios and market views,” the spokesperson says. “This allows for a more personalized and relevant investment strategy for each client.”

For productivity, AI is employed to automate complex, repetitive tasks such as performance reporting and compliance monitoring. In decisionmaking, AI aids in expanding the range of companies considered for investment and forecasting potential improvements in these companies.

“Mutual alignment of interests is key to long-term relationships,” the spokesperson says. “We demonstrate this by investing our portfolio managers’ and employees’ personal assets alongside our clients, ensuring shared goals.”

Finalists

• Capital Group
• L&G – Asset Management, America
• NISA