In its simple term ,
is where the assets of a company is managed in a way where it can generate maximum return
at the lowest operating cost of the asset.
The asset of a company is divided into two ie the tangible
asset and the intangible asset. The tangible asset where it can be physically
seen such as machines, factory , furniture and etc whilst the intangible is the
manpower , investments and goodwill.
Asset Management is usually done by a group of people who are well-verse in managing
company’s asset. They will determine what are the asset that can generate
maximum income for the company or their client and which are the asset that
need to be disposed off.
It is seldom that a company will do their own asset
management as the priority is on the company’s operation, running the core
business and making money for the company.
When the asset management team is hired by a company, the
first thing that they will do is to identify the company’s assets and
resources. This resources include cash , property, goods ,savings and
investments. Then they will identify which asset is profitable and which is
carrying cost.
Asset that continue to contribute or generate income for the
company, the asset management team will not do anything with it. If the asset is no longer making any money
then the team will analyse it and making
proposal to the company such as whether
to sell it off or turn the asset
into something that can generate money.
Take for example a machine which has been used for quite sometimes, the asset management
team will evaluate the machine and identify whether is it worth
to repair or upgrade or replace it.
There are instances where it is better to buy a new machine
as the company may save more money in the long term as against repairing the
old machine , the latter will face the increasing cost of repair.
The above is an example of a tangible asset of the company.
What about the intangible asset such as the manpower. The workers are
considered intangible as the company does not own them but still bearing some
cost in term of salary and they do generate income in return through their
productivity.
How the team assess this type of intangible asset ? Firstly,
they will make a study on each of the department and the individual before coming-up with some action plan. There are possibility that some of the
departments having redundant positions whilst some need additional manpower.
When this happen, they will recommend a restructuring in the
department and position. This mean that
transferring some employees to a department which require additional
manpower. There are instances where the
department is scrapped totally and integrated it into one big department with
many portfolios.
Some other action plans are
polishing their skills. Put them at
a better level and better
security. Such action will motivate employee to work harder and this will
maximize their output.
Apart from assessing the asset, the asset management team
will also offer to their client the
opportunity to grow their money. This may be investing in viable project or
investment such as stock market , oil , golds , bonds etc.
If you want to hire an asset management team, do some
thorough research and find out if they do have that kind of expertise to make
your company grow better. There are many of them in the market that can help
you in making your company more efficient.
After you have hired them and listen to their proposal , it
is best to follow what are their inputs as there is a good chance that your
company will continue to grow profitably.
But then, the decision is still in your hand and after all you has
fork-out some money in-term of fees paid to them.
