Investment Technology in a post-COVID world

Investment Technology Adoption: The Time is Now!

The coronavirus pandemic has already had a direct and profound effect on how the asset management industry works. The hurried adoption of new communication technologies and a lengthy period of successful remote working has affected many aspects of the industry.

This carefully curated list of papers illustrates how businesses have adapted to the COVID-19 crisis. They suggest that the pandemic has accelerated the need for a more widespread adoption of new technologies within  the asset management industry. In short, the prognosis seems to be that a greater willingness to integrate technology into rapidly evolving business models is required.

 

 

The Future of Platforms Is Open (State Street, Aug 2020)

State Street suggests that open-architecture investment platforms, where third party applications and services can be bolted on as needed, may be a solution to the increasing costs and complexities with legacy systems that face many asset managers.

A New Platform Paradigm: Infrastructure that drives change (AMX, 2020)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies

AMX argues that coronavirus has accelerated existing trends that were already forcing change upon the investment industry. Updating technology might help address some of the challenges, but they suggest that changing the product into a more flexible platform solution may also help.

The New Operating Environment: People, processes, technology (SimCorp, Jul 2020)

In this paper from SimCorp, they illustrate the different ways in which asset management companies have managed the recent disruption to working practices predicated by the coronavirus outbreak, and how they are also adapting to new and changing circumstances.

Podcast: The role of technology during COVID-19 (State Street, Aug 2020)

Head of asset management at KPMG, Ravi Beegun, discusses with Eduardo Gramuglia, head of State Street Luxembourg, how financial services companies are learning from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 crisis. They reiterate how some of the technological lessons learned may need to be carried forward into future policy and planning.

Global Trends in the Asset and Wealth Management Industry 2020 (Infosys)

This paper from Infosys outlines that the investment industry needs to re-evaluate existing business models and the use of technology if they are to cope with more challenging times ahead.

The Transformation of Wealth Management (Refinitiv, 2020)

Refinitiv explores how disruption and increasing digitization are affecting asset managers, leading to a radical overhaul of business models and processes.

Alternative Trading Systems in the Corporate Bond Market (FRBNY, Aug 2020)

This paper from the Federal Bank of New York looks at the various trading platforms used by corporate bond dealers. They note specific characteristics associated with the type of instrument traded on each platform, the levels of dealer participation, and how costs differ markedly, depending on the bond and platform chosen.

Future of Post-Trade Infrastructure (Deloitte, Aug 2020)

Deloitte investigates the rapid digital transformation underway in the post-trade infrastructure value chain, arguing that Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) will play a leading role in the evolving investment landscape. DLT, blockchain, and digital tokens have already been used across a range of applications – including when issuing bonds, when undertaking collateral swaps, and in the processing of clearing and custody instructions.

Blockchain: Forging the future of asset management (BDO, Aug 2020)

BDO finds a relatively low uptake of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) amongst asset managers and offers insights into how the industry might best utilise the technology to its advantage.

Podcast: The employee benefits experience (Willis Towers Watson, Aug 2020) 

In this podcast, executives from Willis Towers Watson discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in adaptations to how both organisations and individuals work, and how companies may need to rethink how they communicate with different stakeholders.