Harvey Nash / KPMG CIO Survey 2020: Asset Management Harvey Nash / KPMG CIO Survey 2020: Asset Management Harvey Nash / KPMG CIO Survey 2020: Asset Management

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Now in its 22^nd year, the Harvey Nash / KPMG CIO Survey 2020 is the largest IT leadership survey in the world, with over 4,200 responses from CIOs and technology executives across 83 countries, including 125 from the asset management sector.

Even before the pandemic, the asset management industry was grappling with the need to evolve and transform their business and operating models amid declining margins, rising cost of regulatory compliance and tax reporting and increasing customer demand. Responsible, values-driven investment has also become key to the strategic agenda with delivery through digital customer platforms. It is therefore not a surprise that the top two priorities for asset management digital leaders are improving operational efficiency and improving customer engagement.

Looking towards economic recovery paths, 38 percent expect to ‘transform to re-emerge’ with operating models stronger and more in line with consumer priorities, and another 38 percent expect to ‘scale’, sensing their potential to lead and provide capital to scale aggressively during recovery.

1. Top IT investment areas – Security and privacy, customer experience and engagement, and Infrastructure/cloud head the list. Asset managers expect to increase their use of managed services (68 percent) and automation (62 percent) across the enterprise.
   
   
2. Skills shortages – Cyber security professionals are most in demand, followed by those skilled in Artificial intelligence and Intelligent automation. On a positive note, 50 percent of asset management organizations believe COVID-19 has created a culture of inclusivity in the technology team.
   
   
3. Cyber security is an increasing focus – Over a third (39 percent) of asset management organizations have experienced an increase in cyber incidents due to remote working, with spear phishing and malware attacks topping the list.
   
   
4. Leveraging data for insights – In order to develop differentiated and personalized products that truly meet customer needs, asset managers’ top priorities are scaling their data analytics skills, and increasing their data literacy.
   
   
5. Digital leaders are delivering value faster – Leader organizations are pivoting and scaling digital channels to meet customer demands more effectively than their counterparts, collecting more valuable data and carrying out more large-scale implementations of emerging technologies such as cloud and AI.