89% of fund managers and third party fund administrators who attended an event organized by London consultants Investit Intelligence named OTC derivative processing as their top priority.
The 35 investment management companies and third party administrators, who attended Investit Intelligence’s Winter Conference on 24 January named OTC derivatives as the it top priority (89%), closely followed by supporting alternative assets, such as private equity and real estate (83%), MiFID (78%) and so-called “change management” (67%).
Investit says that although the operational and technology challenges associated with OTC derivatives continue to top fund managers’ agendas, alternative assets – such as property and private equity – continue to grow in popularity, as institutional clients look for more diversified returns. However, many investment management firms’ systems and operational processes cannot properly support, and report on, theseassets, says Investit.
Unsurprisingly, MiFID continues to be a key area for investment managers, as they have to be compliant by November this year. Only one of the investment management companies attending the Winter Conference said that they had already got MiFID sorted out. But Investit says its clients are finding MiFID compliance less of a problem than at first feared. They have been able to incorporate MiFID into other business as usual projects.
Investit says “change management” has been recently recognised as an individual discipline, reflecting the growing maturity of investment management businesses.
The Winter Conference also revealed some lesser concerns for managers. Only 39% of managers are prioritizing merger and acquisitions, although this has risen from 25% at the Intelligence Summer Conference in July 2006. And only 41% of managers are currently considering increasing headcount.
“This survey of leading fund managers attending the Investit Intelligence Winter Conference has enabled us to identify key areas of interest and focus for spend in the year ahead,” says Catherine Doherty, Principal at Investit comments. “OTC derivatives and MiFID have both been areas Investit Intelligence has concentrated on over the last two years.
We will look forward to exploring alternative assets and change management as we continue to assist our members in staying ahead of the game.”