The investment management landscape is changing, and an increase in compliance obligations “is a risk, but it’s also an opportunity”, according to Rob Formby, director of retail operations at Allan Gray.
Either way, he argued at ITAS Luxembourg, additional compliance requirements are not going anywhere and “it’s a reality”, while at the same time, technology such as robo-advisor services are increasing in popularity, the “advice landscape” is seeing dramatic changes, and “clients are demanding a much higher level of service”.
Client expectations are adapting in line with technological advancements, said Formby, and new payment players such as tech giants Apple, Amazon and Google may have a significant impact on the market.
He suggested that investment management solutions today should be “far more with consumers in mind and very easy to operate”, while being “device-agnostic” and “omni-channel”, meaning that all services are dealt with on a single platform and placed in one queue.
Formby also noted that all departments working with new technology would also have to deal with legacy systems, conceding: “They’ll have to deal with that.”
He concluded that, ultimately, good customer service is integral to client services, stressing that both institutional and individual investors are more willing to trust a fund manager if they receive good customer service, and if operations run smoothly.
While actual cost-savings in this area are hard to quantify and “difficult to illustrate”, Formby argued the importance of solving any issues with clients first, before addressing the problems in-house, saying the implications of this can be “massive”.
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