Technology trends from the consumer world will drive incremental shifts for investment managers in 2015

Major paradigm shifts in consumer technology have changed the way we manage our personal lives and have already made significant disruptions in some industries. And while the financial services space takes a more conservative approach to adopting emerging technologies for obvious reasons, we are also starting to see tech-driven disruptions emerging in retail financial services with trends like peer to peer lending and the emergence of robo-advisors.

While the Australian superannuation industry has been preoccupied in recent years with responding to a raft of regulatory change, the world has not stood still. A number of forces have come into play that stand to radically shape and transform the superannuation landscape of the future. Numerous reports1 forecast continued strong sector growth in the years ahead, however, the ability of funds to take advantage of this growth will depend on their capacity to recognise and embrace change and move with the times.

Banking Compliance, Risk and Analytics Solutions pioneer iCreate Software has announced a change in its brand name. The new brand name will be ‘Fintellix Solutions’.

This development is a logical step forward as the company continues to evolve rapidly as architects of a new, smarter, data-driven financial technology landscape with their niche banking Compliance, Risk and Analytics offerings. The decision therefore was to opt for a new identity that conveys their singular focus area (i.e. Financial Intelligence) better and aids memorability / quicker brand recall.

The need of controlling trading risks has been obvious for years but this hardly reduces its relevance. In fact, it becomes ever more crucial for survival and business development. There are also questions of compliance with MiFID II measures being introduced.

High-frequency trading (HFT) may be capturing the headlines, but there is a great deal of misunderstanding about how these strategies work and the technologies involved.  In response to outcries in the media and ill-informed “investor” backlash, regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are looking into the practice.  Meanwhile, the debate over the fairness of HFT rages on between proponents and opponents.                                                                                                                        

Sibos interview with Andre Casterman, Global Head of Corporate and Supply Chain Markets,SWIFT