What is the impact of the international portfolio diversification on the financial performance of asset management companies and which factors can define this international portfolio diversification?

This master thesis aims at appraising the impact of the international portfolio diversification on the financial performance of European and American asset management companies as well as describing the impact of multiple factors on this international portfolio diversification. Diversifying a portfolio is beneficial for an investor lambda since this diversification decreases the risk and increases the return of the portfolio. Investors benefit even more if they invest internationally or in emerging markets. However, the literature review does not analyze the specific case of asset management companies. The objective of this master thesis is therefore to fill this gap. Through statistical tests, the empirical research analyzes if the well-known benefits received by individuals are similar for European and American asset management companies investing internationally. The goal is to evaluate if asset management companies benefit from an international strategy of their investments. In other words, do asset management companies have incentives to internationally diversify their portfolios? The impact of other factors on the international portfolio diversification of asset management companies are analyzed as well: the geographic area, the period, the current market cap, the enterprise value and the unlevered beta. The objective is to fully understand the international portfolio diversification behavior of those companies.