Investment data and technology transformation: How to plan for long term growth

The recent Investment Data and Technology Summit (IDT Summit) in Sydney highlighted the importance of data and technology in investment management and how companies must understand both in order to stay ahead. 

The summit focused on front office data and technology use cases and considerations, as well as organisational themes around data governance, technology architecture and business efficiency.  

AlphaCert’s CEO Phil Pietersen and COO Scott Taylor attended the conference last month and came back with a wealth of knowledge to share. 

This blog is the first in a series where we will discuss the key takeaways from the summit. As always, if you would like to know more or explore these topics further, do not hesitate to get in touch.  

Investment data and technology transformation – where to from here? 

It is common to hear in the investment management industry that these are challenging and uncertain times.  

The first Summit session highlighted that managing the risk/return trade-off has never been trickier. Risk, volatility, capacity and performance pressures are at an all-time high.  

While times are tough, there are also opportunities for growth and it is a good time to look at how to optimise investment risk and performance in 2023 and beyond. 

Through all the changes in market conditions experienced over the last couple of years, the key is to stop and reassess. Are your go-to benchmarks still fit for purpose? 

It is then important to outline a solid strategic roadmap with a focus on strong data governance. With this in place, the first step any investment management company should take is an in-depth look at the current organisational capabilities. Getting external expertise early can be crucial to get an accurate bird’s eye view.  

The session outlined a path to that all-important assessment, as you look ahead in the business: 

1. Conduct a discovery exercise: Define the current issues and what your organisation is trying to solve.  
2. Define a programme roadmap and a list of projects in order of priority. 
3. Think deeply about organisational data governance. 
4. Understand the company’s internal capabilities. If any shortfalls are identified, bring in external expertise to help with those. Capability shortfalls could be that an organisation simply doesn’t have enough people to help deliver transformation around current daily workloads. 
5. Implement a data management platform and automate business processes.  

The AlphaCert Strategic Objectives Roadmap report and methodology is a cost-effective exercise that can support this phase, get in touch to find out more.

When considering all these factors, it is also important to keep in mind that we are not just planning for next year – we are planning for the future and the unpredictable things that come with it. Ensure that your data management platform is future proof, highly scalable and able to handle large volumes of data. 

The Challenges 

The need to “do it cheaper and do it faster” was mentioned through the session as one of the key challenges boards and senior leadership face. It often becomes a battle between these with one becoming the focus. 

Having buy-in from the board is crucial to any organisational transformation programme. There needs to be collective buy-in and a shift in focus from “business as usual” to change management. 

When it comes to a company’s data journey, technology is actually the easiest problem to solve. The toughest challenge is a culture change. The people, culture, and process automation are the real points of difference. 

The consensus from thought leaders at the summit is one we echo: to increase the chances of long-term growth, you need a trusted external partnership that focuses on helping deliver long term value. 

Get in touch with us today to find out how AlphaCert can help you create a roadmap and gear your company towards long term growth.