Northern Trust has issued a white paper, the Next Chapter in Driving Growth in Asset Management, that offers insights into how asset managers can create greater efficiency and control costs.
This involves leveraging technology and outsourcing functions that may not be core to their investment process and viewing operations through the lens of their whole office, including investment decision support activities and data management.
300 firms across the asset management industry took part in the survey, which found that 50 per cent of asset managers’ key strategic priority for the next two years will be creating greater efficiency.
The survey, conducted for Northern Trust by WBR Insights, also showed that nearly as many (47 per cent) plan to focus on cost control and 45 per cent said enhancing quality and accuracy was a top priority.
The survey highlighted that a number of asset managers are struggling with some of the same issues identified in a 2020 survey, while the new way of working following the global pandemic has influenced asset managers’ views about outsourcing.
Particularly, 60 per cent of respondents said the work environment has increased their likelihood to outsource, whilst 52 per cent said their reason for increased outsourcing was due to the cost of maintaining in-house capabilities. A further 51 per cent said their reasoning for outsourcing was due to staffing challenges.
Speaking on the findings, Northern Trust’s Ryan Burns, head of global fund services for North America, comments: “As we are coming out of a two-year pandemic in which operating models were strained or challenged, there has been a renewed focus on efficiency, and how talent and technology can enable that.
“The most successful asset managers are leveraging new technologies and operational approaches, while also seizing the benefits of outsourcing, to enable more efficient and effective decision-making.”
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