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Discussing how disruptive technologies will affect the service sector with leading industry professionals. A special report from Savvy Investor.

This report aims to gain a greater understanding of where buy-side firms across the globe see their strategic priorities now lying as we emerge from the pandemic. We surveyed 200 decision-makers on a range of key issues, including the optimization of the overall operating model, data management and reporting, and the future of work.

In Q4 of 2021, WBR Insights surveyed 100 Heads of Operations and similar from firms across the UK to find out what they thought of the future of operational processes, automation and financial regulation. The report aims to gain a greater understanding of where investment firms see their strategic priorities now lying as we emerge from the pandemic, where the need for automation exists within the industry, and the ever-changing landscape of financial regulation in the next year.

Post-trade matching and confirmation is a key, yet sometimes overlooked, part of the trade lifecycle and increasingly subject to regulatory scrutiny. There are many associated processes that must be both compliant and streamlined for maximum efficiency. For over two decades, the post-trade portion of an institution’s allocation and confirmation workflow was done either manually or with monopolized legacy vendors. Buy-side firms are turning to technology to modernize their middle and back offices. One example of the way innovation is driving change is the application of the FIX protocol to streamline post-trade processing, mitigate risks and reduce total cost of ownership (TCO).

In Q1 of 2021, WBR Insights surveyed 100 Chief Financial and Technology Officers and similar from both buy-side and sell-side global firms across North America and Canada, EMEA, and APAC to find out about the billing operational challenges they are facing in 2021, due to the impact of COVID-19.Our survey sought to understand how capital market firms are transforming their billing processes through intelligent workflows and to illustrate how the adoption of automation can help reduce revenue leakage and operational efficiency.

In Q2 of 2021, WBR Insights surveyed 300 CEOs, CIOs, Chief Data Information Officers and similar from across APAC, EMEA and North America regions, from asset management firms with an AUM of $1bn - $750bn and hedge funds managers with an AUM of $250m - $10bn to find out what their strategies are for maximizing their data, how they incorporate those data into their investment process and their plans to leverage data science tools to optimize their investment performance. The results were compiled and anonymized by WBR Insights and are presented here with analysis and commentary from Northern Trust contributors Marc Mallett, Head of Strategy for Asset Servicing, Americas, Paul Fahey, Head of Investment Data Science, and Gary Paulin, Head of Global Strategic Solutions.

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AI AND AUTOMATION IN THE POST-COVID ERA The COVID pandemic has changed the professional landscape in many ways. From shifts in work culture to changing investment markets, the Corona pandemic has created new considerations for private equity firms. Due diligence has emerged as a key consideration in any dealmaking. Simultaneously, an increased pool of available data has made performing due diligence more challenging, just as rising fraud highlights its vital importance. Looking to the post-pandemic world, we examine the role that due diligence plays in private equity dealmaking and how AI-based automation can streamline the process while increasing accuracy.

The post-Covid-19 world necessitates a new approach to traditional data management processes: Data as a Service.Read this article to learn about:What is Data as a Service and why you should care Can Data as a Service be adopted by any organization regardless of size What to look for in a Data as a Service provider

Read this article and learn about:How market events provide an opportunity to prepare and act for the future Why firms have a responsibility to address operational challenges and invest in resilienceWhat are the key operational priorities that firmly place resilience on the business agenda The importance of a core operating environment for successful business growth

There’s a “tech debt” crisis in the asset management industry. Every year, the sector’s average annual technology spend increases. Without fail, the headlines point to this upward trend as a signal of the industry’s digitization. When you dig beyond the headlines, however, it becomes clear that this “innovation assumption” ignores the full picture. As leaders of asset management firms know all too well, large technology budgets do not always automatically translate to strong investments in innovation. The fact of the matter is, a very small amount of that spending actually goes towards true technology advancements.

Enfusion represents a new paradigm for investment management operations. By freeing asset managers from redundant and irrelevant legacy technology limitations, Enfusion makes it possible to see clearly in real time, unfetter talent across the enterprise, move faster, and boost the internal innovation that drives differentiation and returns. A comprehensive investment management system with integrated data, insights and services, Enfusion breaks down information silos across the enterprise to help join the dots between portfolio management, trade execution, order management, risk management and general ledger.

Taskize puts you in control of your engagement with clients, counterparties and colleagues:Navigate unfamiliar organisations with Taskize Smart DirectoryGain a consolidated real-time view of issues across parties Allocate work and track outcomes Manage support emails effectively Connect easily to other technologies Address CSDR buy-in trade reporting Taskize is a Cloud solution built to the needs of the financial services industry, live for over 200 financial services institutions in 50 countries.

Data management is under more scrutiny than ever before. With a deluge of regulations threatening heavy fines and even more destructive reputational damage, data has worked its way up to become a board level concern.

In Q4 of 2019 WBR Insights and Broadridge surveyed 100 Heads and Directors of InvestOps and those of a similar standing across The USA and Canada to find out more about the challenges they’re facing, and the innovative solutions being brought to the table. The survey was conducted by appointment over the telephone. The results were compiled and anonymized by WBR Insights and are presented here with analysis and commentary by the InvestOps US community and Broadridge.

In Q1 of 2020, WBR Insights surveyed 300 Heads of Investment Operations from asset management firms across the APAC, EMEA and North America regions, with AUM ranging from $10bn - $500bn, to find out how they are looking to drive growth in a challenging market.The results were compiled and anonymized by WBR Insights and are presented here with analysis and commentary from Northern Trust contributors Ryan Burns, Head of GFS, North America; Clive Bellows, Head of GFS, EMEA; and Caroline Higgins,Head of GFS, Asia. .wbr-sponsors-rotator {display:none;}

WBR Insights and SimCorp surveyed 100 Heads and Directors of InvestOps, and those of a similar standing in North America, to find out more about the challenges they face and the innovative solutions they bring to the table. The survey was conducted by appointment over the telephone. The results were compiled and anonymized by WBR Insights and are presented here with analysisand commentary by the InvestOps US community and SimCorp.

[Webinar] Alberta Investment Management Corp. and SimCorp discuss how alternatiives can be more effectively managed -- featuring key findings from the 2019 InvestOps Benchmarking Report. 

For investment firms to compete in today's market a truly global 24/7 service must be provided with teams that can work from a centralized source of accurate, accessible, and timely investment data with a click of a button, but with Global Heads of Operations citing global scalability and legacy systems as some of their biggest challenges, how do firms ensure that they provide a modern service and reduce costs?

In the future, the most important differentiator for an investment manager’s business will be the client experience that it delivers.  As the complexity of investment portfolios increases and investors become more sophisticated and demanding, the nature of communication between the organisation and the client needs to evolve.

In Q3 of 2018 SimCorp Coric commissioned WBR Insights to conduct research with 100 senior finance executives responsible for reporting and communication. The research prioritized buy-side firms, including: pension funds, insurance companies, wealth managers, and asset managers. The interviews were conducted by appointment over the telephone. WBR Insights aggregated and anonymized the results of the survey, and the resulting information is presented here along with analysis from SimCorp Coric.

As part of a series of insight papers exploring the impact of regulation on its core client base, HSBC Securities Services takes a look at what lies in store for the global investment funds’ industry in 2019. In a world being reinvented by disruption and transformation, clients have been confronted with a number of significant regulatory changes over the last year.While some of these rules are introducing additional costs and barriers to the buy-side industry, other reforms – such as improvements to existing regulations and the roll-out of new cross-border passporting initiatives - have received awarmer reception from market participants. Nonetheless, the next 12 months could pose a number of challenges for asset managers and asset owners, as anew crop of regulations and market changes take hold

In Q4 of 2017 SimCorp commissioned WBR Insights to conduct a survey of 100 Heads of Investment Operations based in North America. The research prioritised firms on the buy side, including Asset Management firms, Institutional Investors etc. Respondents to the survey were Directors/Heads of Investment Operations, Head of Derivatives Operations, Head of Securities Operations or others of an equal standing. The survey was conducted by appointment over the telephone. The results were compiled and anonymized and presented here with analysis and commentary from SimCorp and the WBR Insights research team.