Since I became an institutional investor, my #1 learning is: this is a highly unusual and somewhat baffling industry. Asset management also shows the traditional earmarks of an industry ripe for disruption — most obviously, unhappy customers and extremely profitable incumbents. Despite this, it’s hard to think of good examples of disruption to asset management in the classic, Clay Christensen sense. The best examples I can think of include index funds (Vanguard); ETFs (iShares); crowdfunding (Indiegogo); discount/online brokerages (Charles Schwab); online wealth management (Wealthfront); back office management (Addepar); principal-protected investments (JP Morgan, numerous others); and expert network investment research (my former company, Circle of Experts). (in the article I discuss some of the most disruptable patterns in the industry)