Falling margins and increasing regulation are putting private banks and asset managers under pressure. Competitors are focusing on digitalized investment solutions. At the same time, the need for customized solutions is growing – not only among HNWI clients, but also in the affluent segment. This poses major challenges for the traditionally highly profitable wealth management business for private clients.
Asset management for private clients is a ‘story-telling business’. The aim is to communicate the investment decisions of the Investment Committee to the client in a comprehensible and tangible way and to implement them as efficiently as possible in the portfolio of his personal investment solution.
Our client had a large product range and a broad customer base. However, the personal investment solutions were so fragmented and individualized that the implementation of investment decisions in the portfolios required significant manual effort and thus a long time-to-market, and economies of scale could only be realized to a limited extent.
Against this background, the project brief was to realize the vision of “offering a scalable investment management solution with controlled individualization”. This meant significant enhancements in the areas of offering, operating model, and system and IT landscape.
Offering (products / sales approach)
Improvement from a broad product range with many customized solutions to ‘accompanied configuration’ as the main differentiator with defined, regional and thematic product options as well as a comprehensive service model as an explicit part of the offering.
Operating model (investment process)
Improvement from a complex, low standardized process to investment specialists as front support in a streamlined organization with clear responsibilities as well as lower operational risks due to a structured and consistent investment process.
System and IT landscape (IMS, MSD / Dedicated Portfolio Management System)
Improvement from limited IT system support with few economies of scale to a new advisory portal for the client advisor, largely automated investment management process – through portfolio construction to portfolio implementation.
Our contribution
- Co-design of the new target offering with ‘accompanied configuration’ in coordination with the bank’s senior management
- Development of the new platform strategy together with the customer
- Support in the selection of a cooperation partner
- Product ownership for several key components of the target architecture in conception, specification, implementation and delivery
- Supporting the front line in the introduction of the new offering
“Thanks to our long-standing expertise in asset and portfolio management, we were able to play a key role in ensuring the success of the new Investment Management Solution. In particular, the modular portfolio construction with automated implementation of investment decisions, which we co-developed, secures our client a top position in the financial industry.”
– Statement on the project from Pascal S. Gysi, finalix
