Fund managers sit at the heart of an asset management company, providing an investment service that is then wrapped in a product and sold to clients. It is these investment products that form the building blocks on which an asset manager builds its business. A firm's investment management team undertakes a range of activities, with security selection – the decision to invest in a particular stock or other asset – representing the culmination of contributions from other members of the team. Linked to this are the decisions to disinvest from investments, reflecting that investing is an ongoing process. An investment management team broadly covers three other areas: economic analysis, asset allocation, and company research. Increasingly, data analysis represents a fourth, distinct contribution to the process. As with many other functions, these roles may overlap or be divided up in different ways, which will be partly dictated by the size of the company.

Economic analysis provides a macro view of the economic and political backdrop for individual countries or sectors, together with views on how the dynamics shaping these markets might change in future. This includes a mix of short-term perspectives, such as the impact of a particular political election or Bank of England's decision on interest rates, and longer-term strategic changes, such as the ripple effects through the economy of more people working from home.

Asset allocation is the strategy or tactics relating to which types of securities to invest in and when, as well as ensuring the portfolio of investments is appropriately diversified and in line with the fund manager's approach to investing. Most funds will use asset allocation insights as one of the inputs to decide how a fund should be invested. However, some funds’ primary focus is on getting judgements about the correct asset allocation across a wide range of potential assets. For these funds, the rest of the investment process is focused on how best to implement the fund manager's views on asset allocation, rather than focusing on individual companies. For example, the manager might implement his or her views by investing in a range of exchange-traded funds that replicate the returns of particular countries’ stock markets.

Investment analysts carry out research into individual companies, drawing on external research as well as their own analysis of a company's profile, past growth and future prospects.