Fund managers must manage a seamless integration between office and home working in order to avoid damaging silos.
They should also adopt agile methodologies used in the technology market in order to speed up their operations and cope with a likely acceleration in the use of digital technology.
These were some of the priorities and predictions for 2021 made by some of the industry’s leading technology and operations figures in the recently published FundsTech quarterly report.
Andrew Hampshire, chief operating officer and chief technology officer at specialist fund manager Gresham House, said: “If businesses don’t have a slick mechanism for bringing office and remote workers together, businesses could see silos start to develop between those in the office and those working at home. Getting both the cultural aspects and technological aspects right therefore is very important.”
Hampshire’s view was supported by Chris Robinson, group chief information officer at specialist administrator IQ-EQ, who said that “2021 will see a new model of working – a hybrid model of home and office working – meaning IT functions need to be set up to help firms operate smoothly both in the office and remotely”.
Michael Kollo, chief economist at Faethm AI, acknowledged that the move to remote working was the most important development of 2020 but the funds industry continues to struggle with the usage and management of data. He predicted a greater adoption of ‘agile’ technologies.
“The technology industry itself has some great methodologies on how to use agile and other product-based rapid utilisation systems to avoid complexity and get things done quicker, and these are methodologies that the funds industry should borrow and adapt,” said Kollo.
Other predictions made included: systematic trading becoming mainstream; the rise of managed data solutions; the launch of digital asset marketplaces; accelerated cloud adoption; and active support for sustainable investment services.
The full article can be read here:
© 2021 funds europe
