For most of my career, I have thought of myself as of a financial services “operations guy,” focused on operational efficiency and client services, getting the right value for the price of technology that I use, and reducing risk to the company in which I work by ensuring first-class business processes and technologies. From that […]
More Challenges Predicted for 2019 and The Back Office Is Ready!
By providing investment data management automation systems for top asset management firms worldwide, those of us at Confluence have a close-up view of the back-office challenges these firms continue to face. In fact, we’re right in the thick of things with these companies as they reshape their operations to meet evolving regulatory requirements and to […]
Robotic Process Automation in the Back Office – Where Might it Lead?
Every day, in every industry, we hear about robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) — what they mean for the world as we know it and how society, industry, and humankind will all benefit. We’ve heard plenty about the potential pitfalls, the doom and gloom, the end of human ingenuity as […]
Balancing Marketing Brand Standards with Fund Administration ROI Expectations
For most asset managers, regulator-mandated investor-facing reports such as quarterly or annual financial statements or prospectuses have become more than just reports to meet disclosure requirements—they are also a way to showcase their brand to investors. Some fund reports are graphics-heavy, using custom fonts, unique spacing and other tricks to set their brand apart. These […]
How Smart Can Your Fund Be?
Do you live in a SmartCity? Our guess is that if you live in a relatively big city, it is very likely “smart”. There are many definitions for what makes a SmartCity, but according to Cisco and the Center for Cities, they are urban areas that are taking advantage of already existing information and communications […]
Physics, Aircraft Carriers, and Liquidity Buckets
At its March 14 open meeting, the SEC approved a proposal that while still mandating funds to use the SEC’s Form N-PORT to report liquidity classifications, commonly known as “buckets”, it would, among other things, eliminate the public reporting of buckets. The vote was generally split along party lines, with Republican Commissioners Piwowar and Peirce […]
DataTech: Technology Innovation that Puts Data first
Just a few years back, the industry was responding to regulatory filings like Form N-MFP, AIFMD Annex IV, Form PF, Form CPO-PQR and Solvency II with individual software solutions to solve each one of those requirements in isolation from the others. And, just as regulatory fatigue had become the norm, U.S. mutual funds braced for […]
Putting the Consistency in the Inconsistency: The Importance of a Global Regulatory Framework
Deloitte’s 2018 Regulatory Outlook states that even with all of the regulatory discussions and progress toward regulatory transparency both in Europe and in the United States in 2018, the uncertainty from a global regulatory perspective will remain. The Outlook specifically points out that “[f]inancial services firms need to be prepared to deal with the challenges […]
Moving Beyond ’Warehousing‘: The Need for Advanced DataTech
Over the past decade, what started out as industry buzzwords – data, data warehouse, data strategy and data governance – have become part of our daily work and are a key area of focus for many asset managers who look to data to transform how they do business. If you have ever watched your children […]
Come to your Census – Why Form N-CEN is a Key to Fund Administration Data Strategy
How many times has your manager come to you and asked a difficult question that they expected you to know off the top of your head? “How many funds hold IBM stock?” or “Which clients use Accountancy ABC as an audit firm?” Chances are these questions are asked with very little context and a ton […]