Investing in technology and data infrastructure is the answer to the pandemic recovery, according to the survey
A global study commissioned by Temenos found that investing in technology and data infrastructure are high on the priorities of asset managers to achieve business growth in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study, published on behalf of Swiss fund technology company Temenos, titled The Future of Investment Operations, found that 56 percent of asset managers say their investments will focus on the above areas over the next 12 months.
In addition, nearly half (47 percent) said that ensuring ESG compliance across their product range was another top priority in the post-pandemic recovery period.
Regarding the need for ESG compliance, the report reiterates, “Sustainability, diversity and social inclusion issues have become an integral part of strategic decision-making for institutional investors and asset management companies – and this focus is likely to grow in the times ahead. ”
The survey of global investment professionals in the asset management sector also shows that COVID-19 has led companies to review their IT strategies and move to the public / hybrid cloud.
62 percent of those surveyed state that cloud-native solutions will play a key role in their IT strategy, followed by the importance of software-as-a-service solutions (48 percent) and the use of open application program interfaces (46. ). Percent).
“The financial services sector has seen a sharp acceleration in the use of cloud services over the past five years, reflecting a similar trend across the economy,” the report said.
To improve levels of operational efficiency, companies seek seamless connections between functions along the investment value chain, she adds.
In the survey, 83 percent of asset managers say they will expand their strategic alliances with asset servicing and technology partners to connect middle and back office services directly to their front office tools and their investment book of record ( IBOR).
AI and machine learning will play a growing role in providing insights, both predictive and ex-post analytics, across the investment lifecycle, the report said.
The top applications for AI are portfolio analysis and performance measurement (60 percent), data acquisition, cleansing and enrichment (57 percent) and improving the operational efficiency of middle and back office processes (56 percent).
However, according to 60 percent of respondents, expanding human expertise in AI models will be a priority when applying AI models.
This ability is essential to deliver business intelligence in a way that product teams, customers, and financial regulators can explain, the report points out.
Barry Lee, Business Solutions Director at Temenos Multifonds, comments: “A dominant theme for large asset managers over the past decade has been to centralize and standardize their services around a global operating model to ensure consistency in data, reports and client experience guarantee . Asset managers want to benefit from this greater consistency. “
He adds, “To plan the path to recovery, asset servicing firms and fund managers are increasingly looking to leverage the tools, analytics, and scalability of the cloud.”
