CEO Comment: Rising to the future
by CEO Peter L. Ravn
Meeting the regulatory challenge remains one of the most pressing items on the investment management industry’s agenda. The rapidly changing requirements are very tangible and have to be complied with – today rather than later when it may prove too late.
However, other changes are emerging, including a greater appetite for more sophisticated financial instruments, a sharper focus on improving workflows, as well as the technology applied. While SimCorp has an obligation and also a strategy to absorb these changes, it is important to underline that when we extend our product’s scope to meet market requirements, it is not just in response to regulatory changes but also to what is currently happening in the industry.
Our clients expect us to have a product and a solution to fulfil their needs – not only today but tomorrow as well. They want us to think ahead. It is a question of striking the right balance between here-and-now needs and preparing for the future. Key to staying on top of industry trends is our research arm, SimCorp StrategyLab. Following the successful SimCorp StrategyLab Copenhagen Summit 2011, three white papers were produced that identify and assess some of the key challenges facing the industry. These challenges include the vital role that the right kind of investment management system plays to ensure that business and IT strategies are in alignment.
Aligning theory with practice cannot be done by investment management companies without examining the type of IT infrastructure currently in place and how well this is capable of absorbing the constantly changing requirements that have become a permanent characteristic of the industry landscape. Whereas on the one hand research is key, on the other the operational aspects need to be considered as well.
For this reason, while analysing some of the latest regulatory changes impacting the industry today, including the Dodd-Frank Act in the USA and Solvency II in Europe, this issue contains a new feature in the form of a regular column called ‘CXO Corner’, where top executives look at operational challenges and solutions from a front-line perspective.
SimCorp also provides a unique opportunity to discuss these issues at the SimCorp Dimension International User Community Meeting (IUCM) taking place this year in Stockholm on 28-30 September. Theme of the 14th consecutive annual conference is ‘Rising to the future’, and the agenda includes seminars, workshops and breakout sessions, all of which will focus on how the industry – and of course SimCorp – is preparing to meet the challenges of tomorrow while dealing with the requirements of today.
As SimCorp turned 40 on 2 September, our goal over the years has always been the same: releasing the power we have within the organisation and realising that we remain a knowledge-based organisation. Developing knowledge is vital for our success in the marketplace – this is the foundation of our business. That has been SimCorp’s creed in the first 40 years of its existence and will remain so going forward.
Peter L. Ravn, Ph.D., is CEO at SimCorp.
