As weak volumes, heavy competition, and constantly evolving regulations continue to impact firms in the Securities & Investments industry, Celent urges them to review and alter their business and technology strategies with a long-term vision in mind, moving beyond short-term measures to address immediate needs.
In the report Top Business and IT Trends in the Securities & Investments Industry: Insights and Implications, Celent highlights the emerging trends in the industry and discusses how market participants can respond and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving environment. Making business decisions without adequately thinking through the technology and operational aspects of business is no longer an option. Technology and service providers are developing new models like shared service, white label and utility solutions, which should drive the next phase of transformation in the industry.
Amidst declining revenue from trading operations, the wealth management business is gaining importance. Digitization and channel integration will be key for the industry because customers and prospects are increasingly using multiple channels to get information and conduct transactions.
Risk management practices at firms in the securities and investments industry are still not sufficient to offset structural shifts resulting from regulatory fragmentation and OTC reforms. At this juncture, most firms are pursuing piecemeal, usually one-off optimization activities, but should adopt a more strategic posture and make improvements throughout the trading and risk workflow at all stages of the process in an orchestrated manner.
“In the last two to three years firms have had to focus heavily on short-term issues, and they must now focus on medium-longer term planning with a vision for their role in the industry in 2020,” says Arin Ray, an analyst with Celent’s Securities & Investments practice and author of the report. “This will include their key value proposition as to the 'what' they will offer to the market, as well as ‘how’ they will offer them. A proper choice of technology and operational model can go a long way in containing cost and increasing efficiency.”
This report adds to Celent’s coverage of IT trends and implications in financial services in general, with an emphasis on the Securities & Investments segment. Celent identifies sector specific trends across the industry value chain including capital market (buy side, sell side, and capital market infrastructure providers), retail wealth management, and finance and risk functions. For each of these sectors Celent identifies the key drivers of change, discusses their implications for industry participants, and offers possible IT solutions to respond to the changes.
