Today, leaders in the asset and investment management industry face the daunting challenge of navigating a rapidly changing world. With technological advancements and economic uncertainties shaping the landscape, the demand for continuous innovation puts significant pressure on compliance activities.
The regulatory environment is evolving at a breakneck pace, necessitating real-time tracking and updating of controls. Notably, the exponential growth of sustainable investing, with nearly half of the world's assets committed to a net zero emissions target, is driving this change. Bloomberg forecasts ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) assets to scale USD 53 Trillion by 2025, representing over a third of global assets under management. However, inconsistencies persist in existing ESG labeling practices.
Harnessed in the right way, these myriad challenges can represent transformative opportunities for wealth and asset managers. However, this demands agility, transparency, accuracy and efficiency – necessitating substantial resources. In response, forward-thinking players in the wealth and asset management space are turning to hyperautomation as a solution to tackle complexity, stay abreast of regulatory requirements and elevate compliance standards.
From automated tasks to automated processes
Hyperautomation, as the name suggests, goes beyond mere automation. While automation handles specific tasks, hyperautomation automates end-to-end processes. This holistic seamlessness is achieved by integrating intelligent automation platforms that combine the best automation technologies, process intelligence, workflows, data-to-insights practices and low-code / no-code software.
The need for hyperautomation in wealth and asset management has never been more pronounced. Complex compliance issues are further compounded by evolving new asset classes, alongside a 44 percent rise in insider threats between 2020 and 2022, as reported by the Ponemon Institute. Digitization plays a significant role in these challenges, introducing new investment avenues and touchpoints while posing potential risks from negligent or compromised users.
Hyperautomation assists with tasks such as identifying suspicious trade patterns, providing investigation support and conducting due diligence. Intelligent bots empower wealth and asset management leaders by monitoring regulatory changes, automating manual data entry and checking non-compliance concerns without manual intervention.
Partnering to unlock innovation
With the pressure being applied on the regulatory front, future-facing firms are looking to embrace continuous monitoring, with hyperautomation integral to cost-effectively meeting these needs.
However, executing such a system requires significant domain knowledge and expertise, driving many businesses to seek out the right partners to help. This knowledge is critical to realizing the full potential of hyperautomation – ensuring that everything from digital onboarding to advanced use cases is optimized and that the required understanding of regulatory requirements is on hand.
Partner-driven hyperautomation programs have the potential to revolutionize the way regulatory monitoring and reporting processes are handled, as demonstrated by the following practical examples:
- Real-time Risk Monitoring: Through hyperautomation, continuous monitoring of diverse data sources like trading activity, client profiles and news feeds becomes possible. This enables the instant identification of potential compliance breaches in real-time. Machine learning algorithms analyze the data, flag high-risk transactions or activities, and trigger immediate alerts for necessary action. As a result, asset managers can proactively address compliance risks and prevent potential violations.
- Automated Reporting: Hyperautomation offers a powerful solution for resource-intensive and error-prone compliance reporting tasks. By seamlessly integrating with relevant systems and extracting required data, the system can utilize pre-defined templates to generate accurate and comprehensive compliance reports. This automation eradicates the need for manual efforts and ensures strict adherence to regulatory requirements.
- Regulatory Change Management: Given the ever-evolving nature of the regulatory landscape, staying up-to-date with changes is crucial for asset managers. Hyperautomation comes into play by diligently monitoring regulatory publications and news sources. Through advanced natural language processing algorithms, it identifies relevant updates and evaluates their impact on existing compliance frameworks. Additionally, it automatically updates internal policies and procedures to stay aligned with the changes.
The transformative potential of hyperautomation is evident through these practical use cases. It optimizes data collection and analysis, automates regulatory monitoring and reporting, and strengthens risk management practices. Embracing advanced technologies allows asset managers to achieve heightened operational efficiency, cost reduction and unwavering adherence to regulations amid a complex compliance landscape. As a result, asset managers can gain a competitive edge and allocate resources to strategic initiatives, ultimately benefiting their clients and the industry as a whole.
To learn how WNS is partnering with global banking and financial services organizations to expedite their hyperautomation journey, talk to our experts.
About WNS-Vuram
WNS-Vuram is a global hyperautomation services company specializing in low-code enterprise automation. Since its inception, the company has maintained 100 percent customer success and customer references. Powered by passionate people, WNS-Vuram is committed to driving digital transformation for organizations worldwide through an ‘Empathy-First Technology-Next’ approach.
WNS-Vuram has received several prominent recognitions from Inc. 5000, HFS Research, ISG, Entrepreneur India, Fast Company and Great Place to Work, among others.
WNS-Vuram's hyperautomation stack – encompassing business process management, robotic process automation, intelligent document processing and analytics – drives maximum value and high-impact transformation in enterprises.