Assets under management in the Middle East fell 10% in 2015, CPI Financial reported, citing Boston Consulting Group’s Global Asset Management 2016 report (download the full report in pdf). Net new flows of assets, revenue growth and margins all dipped lower in 2015 as well. “The lack of overall growth was due largely to the generally negative and turbulent performance of global financial markets, which failed to buoy the value of invested assets as in prior years. Net new asset flows remained tepid. At the same time, the rising value of the [USD] reduced values of non-US assets in [USD] terms. In addition, institutional managers have divested assets to outbalance government deficits.” The report says asset managers will be required to shift from “outdated product strategies” and develop disruptive investment capabilities. “Weak and turbulent global financial markets are today’s reality—one recent example being the market response to Britain’s ‘Brexit’ vote to leave the EU,” says Ihab Khalil, a Partner and Managing Director at BCG Middle East. “Asset managers that depend on financial-market performance to drive increases in asset values are stuck in a model from the past. And while it is true that clients focus on returns, they also expect more.”