How can data, AI, and sustainability be used within the wealth management industry to drive growth and customer satisfaction? We share further insights from the Banking Transformation Summit 2024.

It was apparent from many of the sessions at this year’s Banking Transformation Summit that wealth managers are focusing on some key areas to drive growth, notably:

  • Personalisation in support of an enhanced customer experience
  • Rationalising data across organisational and geographic boundaries
  • The responsible use of AI
  • Sustainability as an active consumer choice

Some of the key discussions we took part in, and related messages we picked up on, were:

Client experience in a digital era of democratised wealth

 

As customers expect more from their experiences, there is a matching desire to enhance these experiences by customising them to suit their specific needs.

This personalisation requires data that is consistent and reliable, and that can be re-used across the organisation (and supporting channels) to provide a seamless and consistent experience.

The focus on data reliability and re-use is encouraged by the regulatory environment and supports the increasingly varied ways data can be used to support customer experience.

For instance, personalised data can be used across channels (such as moving from a website to a call centre, with data collected at each step) to improve customer experience, supporting a seamless customer journey.

At BJSS we are experienced in helping clients refine their customer experience, we ensure that service design and lean product principles are baked into our transformation outcomes. We have supported the enrichment of customer experience using both structured and unstructured data for clients (including the development of chatbot experience using call centre data, and the improved processing of ensuring claims using OCR to capture image data).

Unravelling the power and potential of data

 

Understanding your data estate and placing an effective governance mechanism in place to manage and achieve its full value, is seen as a necessary precursor to gaining a competitive advantage from the use of AI and Intelligent Data Analytics (IDA).

Typically, AI and IDA are being used to transform the front and middle offices with robo-advisers, portfolio optimisation and risk assessment; while generative AI is used to enhance trading strategies and analysing unstructured data.

Wealth management organisations face particular data challenges through the re-alignment of local services into global frameworks, and the move from in-person customer interaction to digital journeys.

Only through the development of efficient data platforms that support business processes whilst conforming to regulatory and security standards can Wealth management firms realise the value of their data assets in support of these transformative technologies.

BJSS has significant experience in the development of effective data strategies for financial services clients, and have a series of data-related accelerators that can help clients realise value from their data assets in a relatively short period of time.

 

For instance, Just Group, a leading UK retirement specialist business, engaged BJSS to deliver an enterprise data platform as a critical deliverable of Just Group’s data strategy to become a more data-driven organisation. BJSS delivered the first use case within just eight weeks, proving the value of an enterprise data platform quickly.

 

AI's impact on wealth management

 

AI has the power to transform large-scale data processing in the back and middle-office, while providing economies of scale and personalisation in the front-office that will prove liberating and experience-enhancing for both fund manager and client alike.

The combination of AI and IDA enables significant trends and previously hidden patterns to be uncovered in large-scale data repositories, dramatically increasing the ability to forecast and shape customer offerings.

With its vast processing power, and potential for directing customer interaction, AI and IDA pose significant governance and ethical challenges for wealth and asset managers. These will need to be continually addressed in a structured manner to ensure that customer protection and business stability remain at the forefront of these initiatives.

BJSS continues to support a number of governance and ethics conversations as part of its growing experience in providing AI capability to its financial services clients. For example, our recent webinar on AI governance.

A sustainable wealth management future

 

Sustainability is increasingly a key differentiator for investors, and wealth managers need to balance this growing interest in sustainable investments with the requirement to make the required financial gains for clients and the wider market.

Transparency in how investments are made to address environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges is becoming increasingly important, especially as the regulatory landscape around this becomes more complex.

The desire to meet customer demand for sustainable investment, underpinned by more rigorous legislation, means that effective reporting sits at the heart of any holistic sustainability endeavour. Reporting will need to address both customer experience and data engineering challenges, to ensure that reliable and concurrent data is presented in an accessible form to clients and regulators.

BJSS has experience in both the presentational aspects of ESG reporting, and the data engineering required to provide consistent and reliable data to support this and can bring this holistic approach to developing solutions for clients.

We got real benefit from our experience at the Wealth Management Transformation Summit 2024, learning from the high quality of speakers and discussion panels, and meeting new and existing clients in the exhibition hall. We hope to continue these conversations in the period that follows and hope to see you there next year!