investment managers are individuals or organizations who handle activities related to financial planning investing and managing a portfolio for their clients 
from the day to day buying and selling of securities and assets to transaction settlement and performance measurement investment managers oversee investments and act on behalf of their clients roles and responsibilitiesinvestment managers can range in size from one person offices to large multi disciplinary firms with global offices they follow market activity closely to help dictate investment decisions they will make for their clients ensuring that portfolios are balanced and meet each client s needs investment managers may meet with clients individually or if managing the investments of a large business the relevant financial team members at each company their fee is often based on a percentage of client assets under management aum an individual with a 5 million portfolio handled by an investment manager who charges 1 5 percent annually would pay 75 000 in fees per year client portfolios can include assets in market sectors such as technology utilities healthcare or energy investment managers consistently strategize to expand product offerings for their clients in 2022 72 of managers increased the number of investment products they offer to clients and the 3 largest investment management companies globally based on aum were blackrock at 10 trillion the vanguard group at 8 5 trillion and fidelity investments at 4 2 trillion 1investment manager vs investment adviseran investment manager is one type of investment adviser an investment adviser is an individual or company who is paid for providing advice about securities to their clients investment adviser is a legal term that refers to an individual or company that is registered with either the securities and exchange commission sec or a state securities regulator 2asset managers investment counselors investment managers portfolio managers and wealth managers are all considered types of investment advisers while they all provide tailored investment advice investment advisers can manage investment portfolios offer financial planning services provide licensed brokerage services to buy or sell stocks or a combination of all these services 2skills and qualifications of investment managersinvestment managers commonly hold undergraduate degrees in business statistics finance mathematics or accounting as well as an mba or professional qualifications such as certified financial planner cfp graduates may enter the industry in an investment analyst role and move to a manager role with experience investment managers typically share the following skills the average annual salary of an investment manager as of september 2022 3