15 Dec 2020

The Front-To-Back Office report: How are functions in the financial industry changing?

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About this report

How should financial institutions react to changing investor needs? And what are the most important topics in the Front, Middle, and Back Office of today and tomorrow?

Avaloq’s Front-to-Back Office Report will answer just that. Take an insights journey through a financial organization, starting from the investor and moving through the Front, Middle, and Back Office.

Explore our Top 10 Investor Insights for a better understanding of their investment behaviors and views on industry trends and learn more about topics like the evolving end-client, challenges in regulation adherence, and what technological innovation means for the future, straight from executives in the industry themselves.

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Investors

Investors aren’t as engaged as one might expect – most only spend up to 2 hours per week on investment-related activities, suggesting that investment materials need to be as digestible as possible.

Investors will switch their financial service for one that has ESG opportunities. Organizations should highlight their ESG products, in order to retain and win end-clients.

As beloved as technology is, investors still want a human touch, with the majority unwilling to accept 100% computer-generated advice.

"Clients are interested in being able to do what they want to do, when they want to do it, and how they want to do it."

Front Office

Technology supports client-advisory, it doesn’t substitute it – a human touch will triumph in situations that require empathy, creativity, and a great deal of personal knowledge.

End-clients speak in terms of benefits, not technologies. When speaking about products or offerings, remove the guesswork and highlight tangible benefits for the end-client.

For true transformation, make sure you have three things: a well-defined end goal, the path needed to get there, and checkpoints along the way to reflect on progress.

Middle Office

Time spent on regulation is only increasing and work is becoming more demanding. While this requires a higher skill set from employees, it also inspires greater transparency and a more robust working style.

Although there will be growing pains, RegTech will make life easier. But, in order to make space for this, legacy processes need to retire.

Ensure that agile efforts pay off. Have a strong knowledge of processes, risk, and the necessary rules to adhere to – as well as know when to break them.

"I need an innovative spirit and people who love to work with new topics, a real willingness to change."

Back Office

Blockchain ushers in the new: new markets, such as crypto assets, new transactions limits, as seen with microsavings, and new asset classes, known as non-bankable assets.

Organizations continue to be drawn to cloud technology, lauding it for its greater efficiency, flexibility, and quicker time-to-market.

Open banking means an open playing field – not only can financial institutions leverage the practice to collaborate with FinTechs, it can help them act like a FinTech themself.

Read our report to learn more about how important topics such as evolving client needs, technology, regulation adherence and digital transformation come to life in each of the Front, Middle and Back Office.

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