The global financial services industry favours strategic alliances over mergers and acquisitions, although growing organically remains the preferred way to build shareholder value, a survey showed today.
The survey by Arthur Andersen Consulting saw customers and products as the main reason for corporate alliances in financial services rather than as a way to address internal weaknesses in skills, technology or organising finance.
"The key messages we're seeing is the change from traditional M&A activity to very planned and very well executed strategic alliances that draw value-addded best practices," Mark Powell, associate director business consulting at Arthur Andersen, said.
The survey found that strategic alliances helped corporates fend off would-be acquirers as well as enabling them to broaden their product offerings and extend geographic reach.
The report was based on a survey of 310 senior executives at top financial institutions throughout each region of the world.
More than two-thirds of those polled had in the past two years undergone corporate combination -- merger, acquisition, strategic alliance or selling/outsourcing part of their business.