Traditionally, asset management teams have worked in silos. But with asset classes and the data becoming more complex, greater collaboration is now needed. Find out why.

1. In it Together
WHY “COLLABORATION” IS
NOW AN ESSENTIAL SKILLSET
FOR ASSET MANAGERS

2. The demands for data and reporting now placed
upon the asset management enterprise as a
whole are many, varied and rapidly changing.
For this reason, simply asking the middle office
to produce ad hoc reports adapted from several
legacy systems will only continue to yield problems.
LIGHT THE FUSE ON
FIRE-FIGHTING

3. “…As data volumes grow exponentially,
organizations must answer a difficult
question: How can they manage this complex
mass of information in a way that leads to
smarter decisions and better results…?”
LEADER OR LAGGARD – HOW DATA DRIVES COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE INVESTMENT COMMUNITY
STATE STREET

4. With this is mind, increased collaboration across
different functions in the business is essential. Today,
asset managers need a single, web-based data set and
analytical and reporting systems to achieve:
STRONGER TOGETHER
Better
response
times.
Improved
investment
decision making.
De-risked
processes.

5. Performance, risk and compliance teams
traditionally use separate systems. This:
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
Duplicates the
same data, often
inaccurately.
Increases IT
spend.
Produces analytics
and reporting that is
inconsistent and slow.

6. • Analytics and reports are produced accurately and consistently.
• IT spend and complexity is reduced.
• Multiple teams are acting and collaborating on the same data.
• Authorized users in any part of the business can produce their
own reports as they are needed …not just at the end of the month.
Instead, by using a single enterprise-wide
analytics data set:
COMPARE AND CONTRAST

7. “…Non-compliance with the host of new
regulations covering all aspects of financial
services has become a serious risk for firms. The
price of getting compliance wrong is getting
larger as headline-grabbing fines in both the
United States and UK have demonstrated.”
TIME TO MERGE RISK MANAGEMENT AND COMPLIANCE? REUTERS

8. Of course, achieving a single enterprise-wide
analytics data set requires collaboration across the
business. Managers need to accept that the entire
firm owns the data, not any one department or team.
For many asset managers, this represents a real
culture change. But the benefit to the business as a
whole is greater than the sum of its disparate parts.
UNITED WE STAND

9. “…As IT providers we can reduce the effort
associated with data and analytics. If we
can make it much more programmatic,
much more automated, much more owned
by IT, clearly you’re breaking some of that
ownership link with the middle office hard
lifting. In other words, we have systems
replacing people’s manual efforts…”
GERT RAEVES, SENIOR RESEARCH DIRECTOR, CEB TOWERGROUP

10. • Internal and external performance reporting is swift,
consistent and flexible enough to meet new demands.
• Risk can be analyzed and reported efficiently and quickly.
• Compliance teams can be confident that their processes
service existing and future regulatory requirements, and
adequately cover compliance risk.
New technology means foreseeable and
unforeseen demands placed upon the asset
management enterprise can now be met.
Here’s why:
FUTURE VIEW

11. MORE IN YOUR
POCKET
And, by the way, IT costs
can be contained as well.
That’s got to be good
news with profit margins
squeezed more and more.

12. Collaboration means reconfiguring the middle office
from owners and guardians of data, to facilitators of
efficient analysis and reporting across the business.
It also means teams opening up controlled access
to analytics and data for anyone using a trusted
cloud-based platform.
THE NEW FACE OF
THE MIDDLE OFFICE

13. Five reasons to collaborate:
1. Because asset management middle offices cannot go on fire-fighting
the ever-changing and increasing demands placed upon them.
2. Relinquishing “ownership” of data opens the path from siloed
information to a single enterprise cloud-based data source.
3. High level collaboration of this sort leads to consistent, accurate and
timely analytics and reporting for internal and external clients of the
business, according to their needs.
4. Consolidating systems reduces IT costs and operational risk by
allowing multiple teams to access the same information.
5. It leads to a business capable of competing for greater market share.
TAKEAWAYS

14. LOOKING FOR
IMPROVEMENT IN
YOUR MIDDLE OFFICE?
New Insights for Asset Managers: how technology
can drive the most effective middle offices
Review the need for technology in
leading asset management firms
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