Digital distribution is changing the investment fund industry. If fund companies want to succeed in the new environment, they should become skilled at data and data exchange.
Europe’s investment fund distribution actors and the wider fund industry are under considerable pressure from many directions.
Fees must come down, say investors. Fees are unclear and not at all transparent say regulators. Operational efficiency, from front office to back office, needs to be vastly improved say both new and established actors. We want to see more investor protection and better compliance say lawmakers. And finally, why can’t we compare, buy and sell investment funds more easily, ask the new generation of investors.
Transition for fund distribution in this context means embracing digital transformation and harnessing technology, as other sectors have already done to their great benefit.
Data quality means value creation
Previously, data quality was sometimes seen as a compliance issue or the responsibility of the IT department. But in a digitally-transformed world, it can help fund companies take strategic and real-time decisions. Companies in the distribution chain should therefore be taking a different view of data and data flows.
Fund distribution actors will want to focus on this because data and data quality are the building blocks to innovation and value creation. Mastering and understanding data quality are also the first steps in holistic data management, with is many opportunities for enriched feedback and added-value services.
Maxime Aerts
Chief Operating Officer (Fundsquare)
Digital points of investment funds sales are growing and will become ubiquitous.
Data quality, accessibility and compliancy is key.
This is a summary of an article first published in the May 2019 edition of PaperJam. Read the complete article on paperjam.lu
