Fund administrators are warming to the idea of adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to processes relating to data management.

In fund administration where huge volumes of data stemming from different counterparties needs to be aggregated and consolidated on a repetitive basis, AI is ripe to disrupt current processes, according to Michael Megaw, managing director, SS&C GlobeOp.

“AI lends itself pretty well to the fund administration world because we deal with huge data sets,” Megaw. “We feel AI will play a huge role in regulatory reporting, for example.”

AI not only increases the speed at which administrators can carry out their work, but will also improve the accuracy.

One of the biggest complaints at managers about their administrators is that mistakes and errors occasionally creep into their calculations, forcing clients to often shadow a lot of their providers’ work.

An AI enabled automation service would cut out a lot of these mistakes laying the foundations for a superior client experience.

SS&C, being one of the world’s largest technology companies, has been at the forefront of adopting new technologies in fund administration. After it announcing the acquisition of DST Systems for $5.4 billion, it may be one of the first administrators to adopt the revolutionary technology.

“AI will certainly help administrators improve the accuracy of the work they are doing,” explained Rahul Kanwar, executive vice president at SS&C GlobeOp.

"There is a lot of client interest in AI and we are fielding inquiries about what we doing with AI and how we are approaching it. Clients have generally reacted positively, but the technology is still in its early days.”

In addition to SS&C, bank-owned administrators are also recognising AI’s opportunities.

“The benefits of RPA and AI in activities such as fund administration are simpler and faster processing, and access to more focused exception reporting. These technologies also provide greater ability to collect more detailed processing data which is key to continual improvement capabilities,” said Rob Ward, head of change & initiatives, RBC Investor & Treasury Services (RBC I&TS).