02
Mar
2021
Image of Gillian Painter

The world has changed, Investment management must too

What a difference a year makes! Who’d have believed the world would look as it does this time 12 months ago? It’s perhaps not surprising how a global pandemic can shift focus and priorities.

Technology has enabled so much over the last year and demonstrated that we can we can be more efficient and save considerable time, resource and cost by making improvements, no matter how small or incremental. Digital communication is now fundamental to competitiveness and this year has highlighted the importance of this to investment management. 

The use of technology has reshaped both the retail and institutional landscape - clients now require less transactional services but more continual digital relations. Like it or not, digital requirements are accelerating, and investors will judge investment management providers on the sophistication and user-friendliness of their customer interaction.

The technology architecture of an organisation is now critical to success. Cloud spending has more than tripled in the last year and we can expect to see continued growth and investment in data with multiparty systems allowing for greater resilience and agility. Developments in AI have given rise to a new generation of business intelligence, with natural language processing and low code platforms only adding to the growth in the democratisation of technology. 

The next 3-5 years offer even greater advances. Quantum computing is no longer just for the scientists. Substantial developments in targeting and prediction, trading optimisation and risk profiling offer significant opportunity for those willing to embrace innovation.

Awareness and access to innovative solutions is what drives all sectors. To not just survive but thrive firms will need to transform to meet the changing needs of clients. At the IA, we will continue to explore how distributed ledger technology has the potential to disrupt the fund distribution value chain - making all aspects of distribution easier, cheaper and faster. Tokenisation of assets can now offer greater liquidity and accessibility together with increased transparency and efficiency. Investment decisions are supported more and more by tech solutions that quantify, analyse and report, nowhere has this been more apparent than within the ESG space.

The next generation of tech savvy investors and workers all expect a very different experience compared with that of a year ago. The investment management industry must learn from recent experience, and fully understand the problems in order to achieve better solutions. To truly future-proof we must continue to encourage innovation and embrace a culture of transformation - asking the question: ‘what is the cost of NOT making the changes?’

The IA’s Engine identifies FinTechs who are at the forefront of innovation. Working together, we are facilitating the adoption of emerging technology within investment management. 

The ability to change and adapt is integral to evolution and survival. Innovation is no longer an option but a necessity and strong tech leadership will provide significant opportunity throughout the value chain. Now is the time to connect, engage and adopt.

Hear from cutting edge FinTech firms, senior business leaders, as well as AWS and Refinitiv at our latest EmTech Conference today, 2 March. Register for this free event here or visit Engine's website to find our more
 

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