Most asset managers operating under hybrid work model: survey

Roughly one in five Canadian asset management firms have adopted a fully remote work model, while most firms are requiring employees to spend a portion of every week in the office, an industry survey says.

The Portfolio Management Association of Canada (PMAC) surveyed its 300 member firms to get a broad view of how asset managers are working more than two-and-a-half years into the Covid-19 pandemic.

The survey comes as many large firms on Wall Street take a tougher stance regarding workers returning to the office.

PMAC found that as of Sept. 1, 19% of asset managers are allowing employees to work remotely full time. At the other end of the spectrum, 15% of firms are requiring employees to be in the office five days a week.

Most firms landed somewhere in the middle. The most common arrangement was for employees to spend three days per week in the office (26%), while some firms demanded slightly more (11% are at four days per week) or less (14% for two days and 8% for one day).

The average number of days worked in the office didn’t vary much across the four provinces where most asset management firms are based: from 2.3 days in Ontario to 2.7 in Quebec, with Alberta and B.C. falling in between.

Mark Burgess

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Mark was the managing editor of Advisor.ca from 2017 to 2024.