Battle Of The Money Managers: Citi Compares Artisan Partners To OM Asset Mgmt

Analysts at Citi Research recently pitted Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc (NYSE: APAM) and OM Asset Management plc (NYSE: OMAM) head-to-head as contrast to the firm's different approaches to the Manager-of-Manager of financial advising.

Building vs Buying
The interesting aspect of the comparison had to do with the difference in technique applied by the respective companies.

Artisan applied a building approach by emphasizing key portfolio managers, providing equity, investing in infrastructure, allowing for investment autonomy, and attempting to scale assets under management.

OM Asset Management is more of an affiliate structure; it acquires equity stakes, leverages global distribution, and assists with ownership transitioning.

Victory Belongs To…

OM Asset Management is declared the winner by Citi researcher William Katz, who said it was superior across six of nine factors. Notable areas where Artisan was bested by OM were assets under management and earnings per share growth, margins, and strategic initiatives. Artisan won when it came to shareholder friendliness (Artisan sports an 8.31 percent yield, almost four times that of OM), and liquidity.

Katz rated OM a Buy, while giving Artisan a Neutral rating, and said he believes the stock is fully valued at current prices.