David Sarfas, head of private capital at Intertrust Group, discusses how robotisation and emerging technology is driving data management processes forward.
Intertrust Group believes that its technology – including robotisation and machine learning – is key for getting the right information to clients at the right time.
As David Sarfas explains: “I think the most important benefit to clients is our accuracy and rapidity in delivering the information they seek.”
He adds that Intertrust Group has also built its own technology, using machine learning and robotic process automation (RPA) where necessary, to ensure it delivers what clients need.
Robotisation and machine learning
“It’s not uncommon to use RPA to deal with specific complex data requests,” says Sarfas. “To give an example, when validating data, we can use a robot to comb through information on the internet to confirm a number. The robot will search records to check if that information exists, to help validate the data and assign a probability of accuracy to that data. This means we can identify which data is accurate and which data might need additional investigation.”
According to Sarfas, there is strong demand for retrieving information more quickly than before, and then to deliver this to investors promptly. “There’s also higher demand for enriched data – clients want more and more focused information,” he adds.
Another trend is a growing demand for information on responsible investment: “Many people are trying to identify criteria relating to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and to ensure they’re able to provide that information to investors. We are prepared to help our clients comply with present and future regulations, e.g. the sustainable finance disclosure regulation (SFDR) in the EU,” says Sarfas.
“We’ve developed automated processes, which aggregate data automatically and get it verified and delivered it to the client periodically and as quickly as possible to ensure our clients have the information when needed.”
2021 focus
In the aftermath of what has been a challenging year, client service remains a top priority, Sarfas highlights. “We’re concentrating on our existing client base, to make sure our quality of service continues to be as high as possible,” he tells Funds Europe.
“One of the main aspects of our work is to deliver bespoke service solutions, because clients may have different ways of looking at or presenting information. We have tools that provide flexibility and caters to different needs,” he explains.
While it continues to take care of its current clients, Intertrust Group has its eye on business development too, Sarfas notes.
“Looking at private capital in the alternative asset management space, the biggest market remains North America, then Asia. Europe and Asia are similar in size at the moment, but Asia’s been growing dramatically. We’re already very present in Europe, and plan to reinforce our position there. We’re also focusing on growing in North America and Asia,” he says.
While Intertrust Group focuses on technology, we remain a people business. “Another ongoing priority is that we provide adequate support to our people who are often working by themselves, due to the pandemic,” Sarfas points out.
“Mental health is something that we are concerned with, so we are focusing on maintaining an even stronger level of communication across the board.”
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