Rob Calder is Enterprise Sales Executive at Canoe Intelligence.
What trends are getting underway that people may not know about but will be important?
The rise of the data officer within financial services is an important trend that has flown under the radar of many. How data is gathered, analysed and used by managers is a crucial differentiator – guiding firms’ approaches to risk management and investment. Data officers are therefore responsible for the governance, usage and integration of data from external providers – gathering high-quality data to shape better-informed strategies.
From alternative asset managers, the growing emphasis on how data is used and consumed is driving greater technological adoption. Data officers’ rising prominence is demonstrative of the value of data in the alternatives market and is driving greater automation to enable them to focus on higher-value tasks and give their businesses an edge.
What were the key theme(s) for your business in 2023?
Two themes dominated private markets in 2023: the increasing prominence of technology and data.
Public markets’ tech stacks are highly sophisticated, interoperable and flexible, while the technology powering private markets has lagged behind. Still heavily reliant on manual processes, this lack of modernisation risks causing operational bottlenecks, delaying data delivery and driving human error.
In 2023, we have seen the markets taking steps toward a more standardised approach to private market data. Unstructured data on alternative investments has long been an issue for investors, requiring significant resource to extract and enrich disparate data sets. As private market allocation continues to grow, we are seeing an increasingly sophisticated approach to data – automating key processes to give firms a more accurate overview of their exposures.
Over the past year, we have seen an increasing number of firms setting out to address their approach to data. Major risk events such as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank highlighted the need for firms to gain a more accurate overview of their private market exposures and leaps in automation and AI made previously impossible tasks possible. This trend is unlikely to lose momentum, as firms see what is possible and shifting market conditions move sophisticated data processes from a ‘nice to have’ to an essential.
What are your expectations for 2024?
In 2024 we will witness the acceleration of the digitisation of private markets as appetite for automation increases and the data arms race hots up. Highly manual, antiquated and error-prone data processes are becoming a competitive disadvantage, we will therefore likely see the move to automated and tailored workflows continue to gain traction next year.
The renewed focus on efficiency and the growing availability of data will heavily influence how investors operate in an increasingly competitive and risky environment. We are also likely to see a growing focus on interoperability as firms look to leverage the diverse array of technology firms serving the industry to cut operational costs and harness tailored end-to-end solutions that can take their businesses to the next level.
