May 23, 2011

J.P. Morgan Asset Management was named Cash Management & Short-Term Fixed Income Manager of the Year as part of Institutional Investor's second annual 2011 U.S. Investment Management Awards. The awards recognize U.S. money managers across 23 asset classes, strategies and product types that stood out in the eyes of the investor community for their exceptional performance, risk management and customer service.

In selecting the winners, Institutional Investor began by analyzing data in more than two dozen strategies and sectors, looking at 2010 returns as well as asset size, three-year annualized returns, standard deviations, and Sharpe and Sortino ratios. (The majority of the data were supplied by White Plains, New York–based Informa Investment Solutions.) From that review, the magazine culled a list of the top firms in each strategy and sector for a questionnaire that was sent to more than 1,000 endowments, foundations, pension funds and other institutions, asking them to pick the top three managers in each of the categories.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the Cash Management & Short-Term Fixed Income Manager of the Year, oversees $497 billion in short-term fixed-income assets, 40% of which derive from outside the U.S. (The firm oversees $1.3 trillion in total assets. [as of 3/31/11])

According to Institutional Investor, it is no longer enough for money managers to be able to choose the best securities. Scale, for example, is an advantage for global firms, according to the magazine.

"Among the biggest changes since 2008 is the globalization of the markets," says John Donohue, CIO of J.P. Morgan's global liquidity business in New York. "The crisis brought to light how information spreads. Nowhere is that more clear or dangerous than in the short end of the market."

Source: institutionalinvestor.com