A conversation with Glenn Buggy, Co-Head of Caldwell’s Global Financial Services Practice
What does the distribution function in asset management actually need to look like heading into 2030, and are firms building the right teams to get there? Glenn Buggy, Co-Head of Caldwell’s Global Financial Services Practice, joined Dee Sawyer of T. Rowe Price and Kathy Freeman Godfrey of the Kathy Freeman Company for FundFire’s Building the Distribution Bench webinar, moderated by Bridget Hickey. Below are highlights from Glenn’s contributions throughout the conversation.
How do you see distribution teams evolving between now and 2030?
“We’re somewhat of a good canary in a coal mine with our clients, because we charge up front to do our work. Clients aren’t going to retain us to do work unless they feel that there’s momentum and that it’s an investment they need to make.
What we’re doing — and this is an example of how it’s changing right now — is looking at every position description through a different lens. What is the skill set that’s required? What are the digital native traits that we’re looking for? People who are more junior in their careers now will not be junior in their careers five years from now. So if we can harness that capability and aptitude, and then develop and apply it, that’s going to pay dividends. That’s what we’re recommending to our clients, and it’s the thesis that’s been put forward.”
How is AI actually affecting team size and composition right now?
“The answer is all of the above, but let’s be specific. Throwing more distribution people at the problem is not the answer. It’s slow yield on shallow ground.
What we’re seeing is a trend toward trading two roles and top-grading for one. So at the same time, firms are gaining a better skill set while reducing headcount in a particular traditional area, freeing up resources to add in other areas. It’s better, smarter, faster, and it’s all based on data.
I think AI has a little bit of a push and pull to it. Distribution professionals themselves see AI as an efficiency tool — maybe they won’t have to burn the midnight oil as much. On the investment advisor side, they’re looking to use AI to get rid of repeatable tasks and get more face time with clients. The real power of it is just efficiency: being smarter, being able to go into every conversation with advisors — or on the institutional side, going to the allocators — better prepared.”
On the question of subject matter expertise versus relationship depth: where does the pendulum sit right now?
“There’s kind of a chicken-or-egg discussion all the time on this. I think it depends on the novelty of the strategy. If you’re a global multi-strat manager, that’s one set of challenges. If you’re seeing this emergence of larger private markets players that have been single-strategy but are now offering real estate, infrastructure, credit, and private equity, that’s another set entirely.
My conclusion is that for the more esoteric strategies, the relationship is more important. That’s when you supplement with product specialists. But if you take somebody that’s a product specialist and send them into a new region where they don’t have the relationships — whether that’s RIAs, BDs, or IBDs — they’re going to be talking a lot but haven’t developed those relationships.
I’d bet more on investing in teaching people how to get more out of their relationships — not just dollars, but more looks, more touches — than on being the sharpest arrow in the quiver regarding an obscure private credit strategy.”
You’ve spoken about firms solving client problems rather than just selling. Can you expand on that philosophy?
“I think this hits the ball out of the park, particularly on the wealth channel. So much has historically been very direct line — I do this, I get assets. The better way of looking at it, and I’ve seen it pay off, is that if you’re solving for your clients’ problems, whether that’s analytics, market information, whatever it might be, it doesn’t have to be a quid pro quo. But it always works out that way. Call it karma.
As long as you’re doing what’s right for the client, it’ll come back to you. Those I see doing this seem more relaxed. They’re in it for the long game, and they tend to be very successful. I don’t think this is limited to asset management sales — other professionals I’ve learned from seem more relaxed, they’re playing the long game, and they tend to win.”
The talent pipeline gap is a real concern in the industry. How is Caldwell helping clients work around it?
“There isn’t the training and development infrastructure there used to be in a lot of places. You don’t see the bank credit training programs anymore. So we’re using a lot more additional tools to help our leaders identify people. Not everyone has done every aspect of the role, so what we’re really evaluating is the propensity to be good at that role.
We’re using predictive analytics — I was a bit of a Luddite about this stuff ten years ago, and now I’m a full proselytizer. We use one tool in particular that I’ve used on, I think, every search a client has permitted us to use for the last seven years. We don’t have to redo projects very often — sometimes you hire somebody, and it doesn’t work out for personal reasons — but every time we’ve used this predictive analytics tool, we’ve never had to redo a project. Objectively, we’re batting a thousand.
What it looks at are behaviors and drivers. If you’re evaluating someone more junior in their career, they’re not going to have the deepest relationships, but you can evaluate their attitude, their drive, how organized they are, and whether they’re digital and AI natives versus immigrants. Those are the yardsticks. And when we realize we have tools to measure those things, that makes it better for the associates themselves, better for the firms, and therefore better for everyone in this room.”
How are firms approaching compensation structure, particularly as alternatives grow alongside traditional strategies?
“This is a constant struggle. Traditionally, on the wealth side, we used to call it “retail”; now we call it “wealth”. It was more of a commission-based play. With the development of private markets alternatives, since so many started out as single-strategy, we saw a move toward base and bonus, which helps smooth out the peaks and valleys when something is out of favor.
On the wealth side, historically, you’d find that people would hit a vein of gold — bring in a billion dollars — and participate in a way that maybe didn’t make the most sense for the firm, even if it was great for the individual. So we’re seeing more and more movement toward base and bonus with some sweeteners — overrides that provide extra basis points for a short window or for a new strategy the firm is trying to launch.”
On the topic of burnout and AI fatigue — what’s your take?
“I’d say the antidote to AI fatigue isn’t doing less — it’s more focused skill development. Strategic skill development, not trying to boil the ocean. Sometimes, with AI, it means so many things to so many people, and it’s hard to define what it actually is. We were joking that people throw the term “AI” around like the word “gluten” — nobody really knows what it means; it’s just kind of there.
Maybe the better approach is to have your team focus on a handful of key strategic relationship skills. Develop those intentionally, and don’t try to do everything at once. That might be the way to take a breath.”
What are you hearing from clients and candidates on the return-to-office question?
“Clients are anywhere from four to five days a week. The ones saying four days a week would really like five, but they feel that if they say five, it might scare people away, and they tend to be the larger firms.
I’m of the belief that one plus one equals five when you’re in the office. I see the benefit. There’s modeling, there’s training, there’s that investment in the development of people that you’re only going to get by having people be in the office.
From the candidate side, I think people are getting more worn down on the remote debate. There was an initial ‘I want to be remote, I’ll be just as productive, I don’t have to commute.’ I think there’s more of a realization, or acceptance, that it’s not going to swing back the other way. We have to treat our colleagues and associates as adults. If you don’t trust them to be working when they’re working, you have a different problem. Personal responsibility and accountability go both ways. We have short memories — people are just kind of saying, this is the way it is.”
Glenn Buggy is Co-Head of the Global Financial Services Practice at Caldwell. The FundFire webinar “Building the Distribution Bench” was moderated by Bridget Hickey and also featured Dee Sawyer, Head of Global Distribution at T. Rowe Price, and Kathy Freeman Godfrey, Founder and President of the Kathy Freeman Company.
