Alpha Digital Readiness Survey 2020

Kevin O'Shaughnessy

The third year of Alpha’s Digital Readiness Survey provides a unique barometer of how far the Asset Management industry is progressing with its Digital Transformation journey. This year we have seen that the majority of firms (60%) are looking to substantially accelerate their digitisation agenda and are mobilising many different threads of activity under a single cohesive Digital Transformation effort.

With 40 participating firms representing ~£17 trillion ($21tr) AUM, this year’s survey has been completed amidst some of the most turbulent times that the world has experienced. The global Coronavirus pandemic has shaped how firms are assessing and prioritising their digital initiatives and this comes off the back of a year of increased M&A activity, continued drama around Brexit in Europe and further regulatory challenges.

We have seen that:

  • At the fundamental level, firms are re-evaluating what “Digital” means to them, and whether the progress they have made is moving them forward fast enough
  • Client centricity continues to be a key theme with more firms defining digital as a set of technologies to enable effective interaction with clients, and more emphasis is being placed on making best use of available data and technology to deliver on improved client experiences
  • Digitisation is seen as increasingly important for Institutional audiences. In particular, this comes through in the way content and data is surfaced to these client groups. Whilst there is continued focus on the client-facing capabilities and the associated growth and revenue benefits of digitisation, we also see an emerging importance of the efficiency gains and scaling capability that digitisation can bring with it
  • Developing APIs and low-code solutions means that innovation is back on the agenda, as firms are looking for opportunities for their digital capabilities to solve a mix of client, operational and regulatory questions

If you would like to see more of the findings, please click here to receive the full survey results report. Please see our contact details below if you would like to speak to a member of the Alpha Digital & Agile Transformation practice.

About the Author

Kevin O'Shaughnessy Alpha FMC
Kevin O'Shaughnessy
Director – Head of Digital & Agile Transformation

Kevin is a Director at Alpha and leads our Digital & Agile Transformation practice. He has over 20 years’ experience of driving digital & client centric transformation across the Financial Services Sector and in particular in the Wealth and Asset Management space. His experience covers the full range of digital topics from strategy to execution which have deployed with a range of asset managers supporting a mix of Institutional, Wholesale, Retail and End Investor audiences.