This panel looked at the ways in which the EAM community can collaborate more effectively with its client base. Participants included: Dimitri Petruschenko, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at EAM.Technology; Jamie Vrijhof-Droese, CEO and Board Member at WHVP; Doron Bollag, COO at Tareno; Sonja Schürch, Business Technology Solutions Expert at Zürcher Kantonalbank; Anthony Gimigliano, Director, Head Institutional Business at Swissquote; Raphael Bianchi, Co-CEO of Synpulse8 and Senior Partner at Synpulse; and Salar Armakan, Head of Sales at swissQuant.

Topics covered included:

• Lack of data and process standardisation
• Connectivity initiatives
• Technology trends
• The future view

The panel began with an overview of the Swiss wealth ecosystem and where the EAM sector fits into this. Petruschenko sized the market as having assets under management (AUM) of SF500 billion, 20 per cent of the total assets managed by Swiss banks. 

“These impressive figures not only reflect the financial importance of asset managers for the Swiss market, but also the deep trust and great responsibility that their clients place in them,” he said.

But like all the component parts of the Swiss wealth management ecosystem, EAMs need to think carefully about how to make the best use of technology to future proof themselves and make sure they have technological tools in place to exceed client expectations and innovate.

The relationship between the EAM and their own clients, the custodian banks, was of particular interest. There are currently major friction points between both parties including inefficient manual processes, lack of standardisation across banks, regulatory and KYC differences, customer service propositions, quality, and efficiency needs. The result is a fragmented relationship that is neither as smooth nor as seamless as desired by both parties.

Vrijhof-Droese comments: “The biggest challenge we see is the increasing complexity when it comes to administration and regulatory challenges. Onboarding is particularly onerous.”

Bolag added that although standardisation was desirable when it comes to processes, there is still a need for some flexibility. “Efficiency and scalability are both possible and important. But at the same time, it is important to retain flexibility so that the customer experience is still a good one,” he said.

Efficiency gains
Indeed, the panel then discussed some of the efficiency gains that have already been achieved. These include API-based connectivity around order routing, portfolio data flows, and documentation. However, barriers still exist in implementation costs and availability across all bank partners.

The role of technology standards
Attention then moved to the OpenWealth initiative; its vision is to facilitate open finance by moving towards common standards, as well as balancing the need for standardisation with the fact that EAMs are a highly diverse cohort. Gradual adoption was expected to be the way forward.

Implementation will take time but will be to the benefit of end clients and investors because processes between the various counterparties; the custodian bank, the EAMs, and the technology providers will add up to better levels of service, cost reductions, and even a little more automation or digitisation,” said Bianchi.

Emerging technology trends
Indeed, when it comes to how technology can amplify cooperation between EAMs and custodian banks, areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI), data analytics, automation, and cybersecurity are all considered relevant. However, the need to understand the application of technology as it relates to meeting the needs of the end client was identified too. Technology use needs to be to meet a specific need or solve a specific problem – in this case, the need to reduce the disjoint between EAM and custodian banks, resulting in a better overall service for the end investor.

Gimigliano cited onboarding KYC as one area that could see massive improvements if the right technologies are leveraged: “Improving onboarding and KYC are both big projects with us at the moment. The efficiency should be the main beneficiary, and if we can set up a model which is both efficient but also allows for flexibility then we think that end investors will see huge improvements.”

Armakan added: “Technology use is not just about efficiency; it is also about the quality that is offered to the customer. It is the wide range of asset classes covered and the depth and quality of the data and analytics around the investment proposition. This is how to differentiate.”

Thus, to make the best use of technology there is a need to go back to the beginning and better understand bank capabilities and client needs better, adopting flexible standards for scale efficiencies where possible, and maintaining customer centricity in technology use.

“End customers are usually more in the UHNWI segment and have very high expectations of the services they take from a bank. However, the banks still need to automate where possible and make best use of process efficiency, so finding the balance between the two is imperative,” concludes Schürch.

About the Swiss WealthTech Live 2024
Our Swiss WealthTech Live 2024 event took place in Zürich in February and hosted some 160 market participants from private banks, cantonal banks, external asset managers, family offices, technology vendors, consultants, and more to express their views, experiences, and visions for the future. We celebrated a full day of keynote presentations and panel discussions, with plenty of networking opportunities.

During the event, we also released our Swiss WealthTech Landscape Report 2024. This issue of the report includes 24 thought-provoking articles, 10 Solution Showcases, and 539 entries in our Solution Provider Directory.

Access the full report here.