The Warren Enskat Group

LIFTOUTS - INVESTMENT AND DISTRIBUTION CONSULTING - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial Intelligence Industry Insights

AI / Blockchain / Digital Transformation / Investing / Machine Learning / Research

Microsoft Research Finds Organizations Across Industries are “Embracing Tech Intensity As a Key Driver of Competitive Advantage”

Daniel Enskat / December 23, 2019
Asia / Asset Management / China / Investing / Leadership / Research / Talent

McKinsey on Asian Asset Management – Five Disruptions Impacting Future Growth

Video

WSJ: Deepfake Videos Are Getting Real and That’s a Problem

Automation / Digital Transformation / Investing / Research / Talent / Technology

Asset Management M&A Perspectives from Casey Quirk/Deloitte

Automation / Digital Transformation / Investing / Leadership / RegTech / Research / Systematic investing / Technology

Asset & Wealth Management Revolution: pwc identifies six game changers & four key trends for the decade ahead

Israel’s Innovation Authority … from startup to smart-up nation via AI

“The State of Israel is facing significant challenges in the…

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Morgan Stanley hires AI/Digital Execs, announces AI/tech partnerships for FAs

Since Jim Gorman became CEO of Morgan Stanley, his key…

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DARPA Turns 60: Disruptive Technologies, Inventions, and AI

Following its “Sputnik” moment, President Eisenhower created the (Defense) Advanced…

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White House Launches “AI.gov”, with Financial Services Regulatory Focus

The White House this week launched AI.gov as “Artificial Intelligence…

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How To Become (Remain) Asset Management CEO? Artificial Intelligence

A focus on technology and research with an eye on…

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Stanford launches Human-Centered AI Institute: Human – Augment – Intellect

Today Stanford is launching the Institute for Human Centered Artificial…

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The SEC and Artificial Intelligence: The AI Czar & Hub for Innovation & FinTech

While US government budgets have been tighter, the one area…

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VIDEO: China’s rise in artificial intelligence | CNBC Reports

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DARPA’s $2B Next AI – KAIROS – and AIE Campaigns to Generate Actionable Understanding of Real-World Phenomena

DARPA wants to create KAIROS, a program to develop a schema-based…

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Brookings report on “Automation and AI: How Machines Are Affecting People” – Men are more Vulnerable than Women

The Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings published a 100+ page…

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About Us

We pioneered executive search 49 years ago and in 1993 the firm morphed into a liftout specialist, for investment and distribution/HNW teams. As such, our sole focus for the last two and a half decades has been on team liftouts and small acquisitions in the investment management industry.

Robert Warren pioneered the liftout business in the early nineties and Institutional Investor Magazine ten years later labeled him the “liftout king”. Daniel Enskat has written a dozen books on the asset management industry and leads our proprietary quantitative and qualitative research efforts. The combination of data and research along with our network is key to each assignment.

Moving a group of people to a new firm is NOT a liftout, a concept often misunderstood in the industry. We define a liftout as bringing you a top decile team along with an immediately marketable track record and portable institutional assets. A liftout is profitable immediately and acts a pied piper for other asset classes and products, hiring multiple individuals is not. The teams we bring are never looking in the marketplace, as they are top performers and in most cases have worked together for over a decade.

In recent years our focus has been on artificial intelligence and how it is impacting asset management distribution, operations and investments. Our team spent time all over the world to personally meet with the top AI pioneers and leaders tho see how they would tackle AI, for automation as well as investments and to get involved with asset managers, be that as a team liftout, acquisition, JV or as R&D. “AI is like teenage sex. Everyone talks about it. Nobody knows how to do it. But everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so they claim they do it too.” This is especially true in investment management, where firms overpay for the wrong talent and address the wrong issues. We can connect you to the leaders in AI, spend less, and grow more.

"A liftout is a complex process which requires us to work with, consult and at times guide your legal, operational, compliance and HR staff to ensure a smooth process and successful business from day one."

Robert Warren

A true liftout is profitable within the first six months.

What We Do

We have facilitated over 70 team liftouts and investment boutique acquisitions in the last two decades, with each team still with the firms we placed them with. We have clients in all continents and across all business models, including long only and alternatives.

Business continuity and cultural fit are the most important factors for our work. Warren Enskat will work with you to create a systematic process and structure to find those top decile performing investment teams. We have the ability to look for multiple teams at the same time and integrate them seamlessly into the cultural fabric of the organization, along with key distribution talent, portable track records and asset trails to ensure profitability from day one along with AUM growth.

The route of hiring a lot of new people and then training them for years while hoping to build a 3-year and 5-year track record from scratch to become a global blockbuster is highly improbable – and takes too long.

Acquire the right team in the right way, and you may get not only cohesive, plug-and-play talent but also valuable external relationships, learning opportunities for existing staff – and the chance to embarrass a competitor.

Harvard Business Review, Lift-Outs: How to Acquire a High-Functioning Team

Lift-outs … represent an attractive means of driving continued business growth in times of market uncertainty.

PWC, Global Private Banking & Wealth Mgmnt Survey

Contact Us

The route of hiring a lot of new people and then training them for years while hoping to build a 3-year and 5-year track record from scratch to become a global blockbuster is highly improbable – and takes too long.

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