SuperReturn Asia, 23-26 September

Asian asset managers are poised for growth across the region, but they will be facing some significant issues.

More...

With assets under management expected to grow at the fastest rate of any region globally, this is an exciting time for Asian asset managers.

Added to this is the growing momentum of fund passporting schemes for the region, designed to replicate Europe’s success in cross-border distribution. Although still in their early days, the Asia Region Funds Passport and the ASEAN Collective Investment Scheme will help to drive growth and interconnectivity and bring together a fragmented market.

However, such developments will bring their own challenges and Asia’s fund industry is not immune to broader trends and issues:

The need for greater transparency, investor protection and financial inclusion

Heavier compliance and regulatory workloads

Delivering a simpler and better client experience

Complexity in the existing fund distribution chain

Margins for fund companies are falling with much pressure to reduce costs.

If Asia’s fund actors can respond effectively, they will have a strong base for the future.

Use data and technology better to build and maintain growth

Fundsquare experts Didier Kayl and Xun Yuan will be participating in the SuperReturn Asia conference in Hong Kong on 23 September. They will be available to discuss some of the solutions to these problems.

Fundamentally, as the fund industry worldwide undergoes its digital transformation, the issues are all about data: how to improve data quality and information flows between all participants to best respond to a new environment? Furthermore, how can data flows be used to create opportunities for investment fund actors and the industry as a whole?

Operational efficiency can be greatly improved, and operations can be more cost effective, through use of technology. An industry-wide blockchain-based infrastructure for fund distribution can flatten and streamline the entire chain, from fund creator and through the various intermediaries to fund buyer. Big data science and artificial intelligence can be harnessed to improve data quality and provide operational and strategic insights.

With almost real-time transactions and data flows across a flattened, more efficient distribution chain, the investor will be closer to the asset manager, leading to more scope for ongoing product innovation and growing the investor base.

For more details about this event, see the SuperReturn Asia site.