What can internet firms teach asset managers?

Asset managers have much to learn from internet companies and a pressing need to work with them more closely, a funds forum in London heard this week. Sanjiv Sawhney, head of global custody at Citibank, pointed to two distinct advantages that internet firms have over asset management companies: intelligent data (and the tools to make sense of it), and close access to customers. He suggested that while asset managers have a mass of data, they generally lack the understanding of h…