Asset recovery

This article is about managing the value of assets. For information on recovering the proceeds of corruption stored in foreign jurisdictions, see International Asset Recovery.

Asset Recovery, also called investment recovery or resource recovery, is the process of maximizing the value of unused or end of life assets through effective reuse or divestment. Both large and small organizations practice asset recovery at some level with the end goal of obtaining the greatest possible return from the asset. While sometimes referred to in the context of a company that is being liquidated, Asset Recovery is also used to describe the process of liquidating excess inventory of healthy companies, refurbished items and equipment returned at the end of a lease. The asset recovery process has three main parts: idle asset identification, redeployment, and divestment.

Asset recovery can also refer to the task of recovery of assets that have been wrongfully taken either stolen, fraudulently misappropriated or otherwise disposed of to remove them from their rightful owner.

Idle Asset Identification

One of the most important parts of the asset recovery process is idle asset identification. Assets that are not put to productive use end up costing money. It is important that these assets be classified as idle by investment recovery personnel. Later, a decision can be made whether to redeploy or divest the asset. Surplus Assets could be in any form, including fixed equipment, mobile equipment, buildings, and land. Idle or Surplus assets can also be identified as either "Capital" Assets or non capital surplus.

Asset recovery can also refer to the task of recovery of assets that have been wrongfully taken either stolen, fraudulently misappropriated or otherwise disposed of to remove them from their rightful owner.

Internal Redeployment

Redeploying an idle asset to another part of an organization is often the most productive use for the asset. Asset redeployment also saves the organization money by eliminating the need to purchase a new asset at current market rates. For effective reuse, another part of the company needs to require an asset of that kind. It must also be practical for the asset to be transferred and deployed at the new location.

Surplus Asset Disposition

Disposition of surplus or idle assets is the process of either selling, scrapping, recycling, donating, or disposing an asset. The process involves removing the asset from an organization's books. When this is done effectively, the organization obtains capital that can be placed back into the business. In addition, a good asset sale produces revenue and boosts profits. Donations also build goodwill and deliver tax benefits. The type of disposition method employed will depend on the type of asset, its fair value, and demand for the asset in the marketplace.

Investment Recovery Specialists

Companies in the asset recovery business can sometimes be referred to as liquidators or as asset recovery specialists or a similar name. An asset recovery company will purchase the equipment at a discounted price and either resell it for a profit or sell it on behalf of the asset owner for either a commission or a fee.

Investment Recovery Software

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software do not offer the necessary support for managing asset recovery activities. In most cases, firms have to extract the information of surplus and idle assets from these systems to a spreadsheet, add additional information/photos and distribute internally via email. In order to avoid this manual work, specialist software applications were developed.

These applications can be divided in two main groups:

• Internal redeployment applications, focus on trying to find new uses for the equipment within the company (Example: AssetGlobe)
• Asset disposal tools, that provide a front-end to providers of asset disposal services (e.g. auction, trading, or recycling) that can execute these activities.