“Despite the clear advantages of this move, ensuring a smooth integration between two of the biggest players in the asset management industry will be no mean feat. A merger of this scale provides an environment ripe for cultural clash. Each of these organisations has their own unique culture and merging these presents a wide range of challenges. Ultimately, the nature and success of this transition will have a huge impact upon the future of this partnership, and for the employees of both firms.
“Each organisation must firstly have an extensive and deepened knowledge of their own culture in order to identify their strengths and shortcomings. This will then allow those at the top of each firm to create the optimum corporate culture when the two companies combine, ensuring a seamless transition period and allowing the firm to operate at maximum efficiency at all levels of the hierarchy. Otherwise, we could see high levels of staff turnover following this merger. Asset managers seeking talent will therefore be monitoring this situation closely.”