Overcoming financial data challenges and updating strategies
The diversity of financial data sources and forecasting requirements are common challenges that banks, insurers and investment managers face when creating digital financial journeys. Robust data management is an important prerequisite to creating personalised experiences matching the complex financial situations of consumers to relevant offerings or helping financial professionals create portfolios that meet their needs. In this blog, we summarise the common financial data aggregation hurdles that firms must overcome to update their businesses and suggest a few strategies that can help.

The challenge: diverse data needs in financial forecasting
The financial sector is a conservative industry – and rightfully so. However, customer demands, increased regulatory pressure, and slimming margins have pushed it to automate a significant part of its operations. The promised vision is lean, efficient, and heavily dependent on financial data aggregation management and calculations within the journeys. Calibrating predictive models running these calculations requires comprehensive data pipelines capable of processing various data types, encompassing market dynamics, mutual funds, and financial time series. The task is further complicated by the need to assimilate information stored in the old systems into various internal and external applications with newer data standards. At this point, bringing the data flows to the modern standard becomes an expensive and difficult endeavour that stops many innovative initiatives.

The rise of sustainability reporting exacerbates this situation. In this emerging space, data sources vary significantly, and the standards are only being enforced throughout the European Union. Financial institutions face the daunting task of ensuring data aggregation integrity and consistency while collecting and summarising information from thousands of different sources – which is still typically done manually in Excel sheets. The composition of sustainability performance KPIs of different asset classes is another hurdle that requires data readiness and numerous financial institution customisations.

Kidbrooke’s financial data aggregation solution
Having worked in financial innovation for many years, we have witnessed all the data challenges our customers and partners face. Therefore, we have recently developed a financial data aggregation and enrichment solution featuring a normalised API, offering out-of-the-box integrations to many commonly used data sources. It acts as a single source of truth regarding investment product and instrument data as well as product and instrument universes (i.e. what is available to invest in for the investor depending on the channel and line of business etc). This solution is particularly relevant considering regulatory requirements such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), underscoring the need for resilient and robust data processing systems.

Kidbrooke's solution aggregates data from several sources, enriches data where needed and transforms data as required to the use case, making it more accessible and ready to use. The solution also facilitates various data delivery mechanisms, from APIs and file deliveries to comprehensive data lakes. Moreover, it helps you understand and analyse your model and customer portfolios quickly and seamlessly and enables you to craft custom metrics and performance indicators. Importantly, our financial data aggregation modules help you depart from manual Excel-based processes prone to errors and regulatory and operational risks, saving your team countless hours that they can spend on more productive tasks.

Example in action: Sustainability data aggregation for a large Swedish insurance broker
A notable application of Kidbrooke’s solution is in aggregating sustainability data for one of the largest insurance brokers in Sweden, Max Matthiessen. Kidbrooke’s platform consolidates the required data sources while considering the asset managers’ preferences for presenting sustainability information. In particular, the solution aggregates the sustainability performance data, aligning them with the customers’ mutual funds. It facilitates the calculation of fund-level sustainability Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) by providing detailed ‘look-through’ data.

Kidbrooke’s financial data aggregation solution significantly improves scalability and operational efficiency for financial institutions. It provides flexible integration capabilities, helping organisations avoid repeated investments in vendor-specific technologies. The API-based approach facilitates a seamless incorporation of data into diverse system architectures, streamlining operations and reducing operational overheads.

Are you on your journey towards data readiness?
The robust and reliable data management process is an important prerequisite to the financial sector’s journey towards scalable omnichannel financial services. By addressing data challenges without further complicating the infrastructure, firms set the stage for future advancements in financial decision-making.

The imperative for robust, adaptable solutions becomes increasingly pronounced as the financial and regulatory landscapes evolve. We at Kidbrooke strive to be at the forefront of this evolution, providing essential tools and insights for navigating the complex world of financial data.

Please contact our team for more information on how Kidbrooke’s solutions can enhance your financial planning and decision-making processes.

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