Read this article and learn about:
- The value of having a Chief Data Officer
- How to find the optimal organizational structure between global, regional and local
- Maintaining a robust IT foundation and keeping a high level of agility
- The need to create a “360° Control Tower” to watch regulatory tsunamis, disruptions and opportunities in advance.
Luc Baque Chief Executive Officer – Europe Alpha FMC
The operating model of asset managers is under tremendous pressure. In today’s business environment, they require a model that is global, cost efficient, scalable, and above all extremely agile to accommodate possible regulatory tsunamis, new asset classes, new quantitative approaches, evolving client reporting, and much more. The list goes on, creating a serious headache for COOs.
Before going further, what do I mean when I talk about an operating model?
What is an operating model?
Operating models usually include four pillars:
- Organization – including governance and processes etc.
- People – including culture and profiles, etc.
- Technology – including functional and technical architecture
- Data – including sourcing strategy, enterprise wide governance and quality framework, etc.
Operating model optimization is today at the forefront of executive committees agendas as it is increasingly perceived as a business development enabler rather than a pure operational and cost efficiency issue.
Below are a few examples of operating model changes that create business opportunities:
- Adopting a global enterprise IT platform will significantly increase opportunities for Fund Management synergies across locations and asset classes, as well as simplifying enterprise risk management.
- Big data technology will provide unprecedented opportunities to develop a large correlation matrix to find new sources of alpha.
- High-frequency trading technology will be leveraged to create new systematic asset management styles.
- Real-time technical integration between social media, websites, transfer agents, marketing and CRM systems will trigger a quantum leap in sales effectiveness.
- Robots powered by artificial intelligence will not only make fund accounting automatization reach new highs, but will also progressively replace Fund Managers themselves performing their most repeatable tasks in a much faster and error-free fashion.
As we can see from these examples, the evolution of the asset management operating model has only just begun. How can firms maintain (and improve) an optimal operating model? Below are four areas to focus on.