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Welcome to our blog – a place to discuss and exchange thoughts and ideas about iX-7 Asset Management SA, the stock markets and all matters relating to wealth management.
continuation of article published 28.07.14
Die or challenge the competition
First of all, let us clarify: there is a place for many financial providers. Yet, the ultimate question everyone has to answer is “What should we focus on?” We advocate that the historic approach of growth of assets under management is outdated!
Many banks have widely deployed strategies to grow the number of customers and/or assets under management at any price. In this winner-loser game, the institutions exposed themselves to reckless employees who put their personal interests before the company’s. The disappearance of Swiss-banking secrecy has its origins, among other causes, in the misbehaviour of a few mercenaries.
The digital revolution in the financial industry will obviously clear some of these issues because clients can be served everywhere and at anytime. More importantly digitization allows banks to better control product distribution and ultimately transfer a lot of the risks they have taken on, for which they didn’t get any remuneration (only fines), back to the client.
The digitization of the working process does not need to result in new multimillion Euro investment cycles. Sizable investments were already made in the past, but today the primary challenge for banks and asset managers is how to make the information they produce accessible. So the key question for them might be: How can we leverage our available content and create USP’s for every one of our products? Obviously simplifying the application and completion process will help generate the desired UX . Yet, implementing these challenges does not require a complete overhaul of the IT system, deploying digital solutions can often simply mean addressing issues such as “what do our clients want from us?” or “where do our clients see their benefits?”
Not only will companies who address these questions properly most likely avoid building gloomy front end platforms, but they will also save on time consuming after-sales services, and therefore, costs. What is more, by adopting this approach these companies become masters of their domains, and thus, are well-positioned to challenge the competition.
As for institutions, there are changes ahead for employees too. The key concept is: Be ready for change or you will be changed. Without a doubt, the digital transformation will change many of today’s functions, and many of tomorrow’s functions will include higher-value tasks such as: how to package an existing product into a new digital opportunity for investors, thereby employing staff’s current competencies.
This is good news for bank and asset management employees as there really are no digital savvy employees from any other industry who understand client requirements and have the financial product comprehension they do. So get ready to rock on!
In the coming days, we’ll publish a number of articles (see list below) which further develop the context behind this article. You are invited to share these articles.
Links to analyses of providers and enablers with a focus on:
Knowledge is power.
