Asset Manager

Asset managers should position themselves clearly in order to ensure a profitable and future-proof business.

Over the last few years, the financial sector and thus also the asset management environment have changed permanently - new innovations and increasing competitive pressure result in a growing need for action on the part of asset managers.

On the one hand, well-known trends such as digital assets and sustainability offer enormous earnings potential in the long term. Additional innovations in the product landscape, such as passive investments and alternative asset classes, are increasingly in demand from retail and institutional investors and must therefore be implemented in the strategy in the long term.

On the other hand, the industry is under strong cost pressure as increasing regulatory requirements and the necessary digitalisation of processes demand continuous action.

“The primary objective of asset managers should be profitable growth in the long term. zeb supports you in a practical and efficient way in your future-oriented positioning.”

Dr. Carsten Wittrock, Partner, zeb

ESG is more than a trend - asset managers as catalysts for a sustainable future
Increasing ESG requirements from investors and regulators have a significant impact on the entire value chain in asset management: sales, front, middle and back office functions are affected. In addition, products with ESG integration will increasingly be in demand in the future - here, financial service providers should revise their offering accordingly. Read more about the challenges ESG poses to asset managers and how zeb supports you here.

„Many asset managers claim to take ESG principles into account in their decisions. But this is often more claim than reality.“

Manuel Hobisch, Senior Manager, zeb

Efficiency increase & cost reduction - Increased pressure on profitability due to competition and innovations
Increased pressure on margins due to more cost-sensitive clients and new cost-intensive regulatory requirements characterise the market. Trends such as passive investments are becoming more important for customers and increase the pressure on profitability due to their low margins - it is therefore necessary to position oneself more profitably in an enormously competitive and innovative environment by increasing efficiency in the value chain. Our experts support you in the quantitative and qualitative analysis of your cost and process structure in order to identify potentials and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your existing business model.

Operating Excellence as a differentiating factor - On the way to becoming a disruptor
Innovations such as blockchain or software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions have been increasingly developed by start-ups and fintechs for years and are disrupting the financial industry with their efficiency and cost reduction potential. To ensure a sustainable operating model, asset managers need to modernise their operating model and processes. Restructuring (e.g. outsourcing, middle office implementation) or automation (e.g. RPA, AI) can be used as levers to gain agility and efficiency - zeb supports you from conception to implementation with a view to relevant trends in the competition.

Regulatory compliance - continuously increasing requirements must be taken into account
Increasing requirements of MiFID II, UCITS and sustainability have changed the entire value chain - from product design to risk management - in recent years. With increasing cost pressure and narrowing margins, new regulations are becoming an additional complicating factor. This also creates clear opportunities: to reposition yourself, to design a competitive product offering and to discover new distribution channels. zeb supports you in identifying relevant regulatory requirements and implementing them in your strategy and processes so that you are compliant at all times.

“Financial services providers should take advantage of the existing window of opportunity and offer their clients innovative services in the context of digital assets.”

Norman Karrer, Partner, zeb

"Data is the new oil" - processing data as a decisive factor for profitability and growth
A clear data strategy forms the basis for a future-proof business model and is divided into three levels: from the target picture (strategic vision) to value creation (identification of use cases) to the foundation (data architecture, governance, technology, functions and culture). zeb supports the design and implementation of modern data strategies and solutions including artificial intelligence that enable asset managers to capture data regardless of type, source or structure, simplify it and then release it transparently and with quality assurance for multiple providers, deployments and workloads.

Digital assets as a "gamechanger" in the financial industry - Enormous revenue potential available
Increasing regulatory measures within the European Union offer opportunities for both established and new market participants to position themselves in the market with digital assets (cryptocurrencies, tokenised assets and crypto securities). Accordingly, the foundation for value-creating activities in the context of digital assets is being laid, whereby new revenue pools as well as opportunities to build their own business models can be realised.

„Digital assets are an absolute game changer. Asset managers who do not keep up will be catapulted out of the market.“

Wolfgang Schlaffer, Partner, zeb

Strategy & Sales

Development and review of corporate strategy incl. sustainability ambition
Positioning, market and competition analyses
Development and review of sales strategy (retail and institutional clients)
Pricing models

Operations & IT

Analysis, evaluation and adjustment of operating models
Development, optimisation, implementation and review of processes
Cost saving programmes and cost controlling
Organisational transformation projects (spin-offs, outsourcing, automation, implementation of departments / divisions, setup front-/middle-/backoffice...)
Governance & change support
Data strategy and governance
Data management
Provider selection incl. make or buy decisions
Prototyping, conception and implementation of individual IT solutions

Regulatory

Identification of relevant regulatory requirements
Impact and gap analysis incl. derivation of action measures for the implementation of requirements
Operational implementation support (e.g. SFDR, taxonomy, UCITS, AIFMD, MiFID II, Solvency II, EMIR,)
Licensing procedures (KVG and BWG licensing procedures)