Over half of European heads of operations think outsourced operations and data management lack expertise and work inefficiently, according to a survey.
A similar proportion were concerned about business continuity and risk in the event of a technology outage as well as cost unpredictability associated with assets under management (AUM) growth and lack of urgency in dispute resolution.
The survey, ‘Front to Back Optimising Cross-Asset Investment Operations,’ which was commissioned by financial technology company SimpCorp, cited lack of expertise, inefficient workflows, business continuity and unpredictable costs amongst the key concerns.
A quarter of the 100 European buy-side heads of operations surveyed in the second quarter of 2017 said the greatest obstacle to change was poor change management champions in their organisation.
With the deadline for implementation of MiFID II coming up in January 2017, support for regulatory requirements was the top priority for 72% of respondents.
Marc Schrȍter, senior vice president, product management, SimCorp, said that the survey had uncovered some of the operational frustrations and pressures that buy-side firms are currently facing.
“It is becoming very clear that to thrive in the current conditions, firms need to review and consolidate their technology infrastructure, if they are to achieve the level of automation desired and succeed in handling a wide range of assets efficiently,” he said.
“This is the strategy we believe will help firms optimize and ultimately tackle market challenges, to stay ahead of the competition.”
©2017 funds europe