London – Fitch Ratings has affirmed Deutsche Asset Management Germany (Deutsche AM), comprising Deutsche Asset Management International GmbH and Deutsche Asset Management Investment GmbH, at ‘Highest Standards’. The Rating Outlook is Stable.
KEY RATING DRIVERS
The affirmation of Deutsche AM’s ‘Highest Standards’ Asset Manager Rating is driven by the continued strength of the company’s investment and operational platform. The Stable Outlook indicates that the rating is unlikely to change over a one-to-two year period. Both the affirmation and the Stable Outlook reflect Fitch’s view that Deutsche AM has ample financial resources and that recent staff turnover is neither excessive nor a material risk to the business. This is because of its matrix organisation structure, which allows the company to effectively re-fill vacated positions.
Fitch placed Deutsche Bank AG, the parent bank, on Rating Watch Negative on 3 November 2016, citing a sluggish business environment that will make it harder for the bank to improve revenue generation and build capital. Notwithstanding the parent bank’s financial condition, Fitch views Deutsche AM’s financial resources as strong.
Deutsche AM has suffered a series of senior-level departures in 2016. However, Fitch views the staff turnover in the year-to-date as being in line with prior years and, more importantly, senior staff departures have been mitigated by Deutsche AM’s matrix organisation structure.
Deutsche AM’s ‘Highest Standards’ rating is based on the following (unchanged) category scores:
- Company: Highest
- Controls: Highest
- Investments: Highest
- Operations: Highest
- Technology: Highest
Asset Manager Ratings are assigned on a descriptive scale based on Fitch’s assessment of the manager’s investment and operational platform. Asset Managers are rated ‘Good Standards’, ‘High Standards’ and ‘Highest Standards’, relative to the standards applied by institutional investors in international markets.
Asset manager operations in the ‘Highest Standards’ category demonstrate an operational framework that Fitch considers superior relative to international institutional standards.
