Q3 CEO Outlook: Navigating the Home Stretch of 2024
Q3 CEO Outlook – Navigating the Home Stretch of 2024: Meeting Asset Growth and Efficiency Goals in a Challenging Landscape
By Dan Houlihan
In the quiet months of summer, we surveyed our client base to understand their priorities and challenges for the second half of 2024. Regular check-ins like this help us stay focused on the needs of our clients. The feedback was clear: growing assets and increasing operational efficiency are top of mind. But as we move into the home stretch of 2024, it’s also clear that addressing industry-wide challenges, such as cybersecurity threats and regulatory complexity, will be critical to maintaining growth.
Growth and efficiency remain top priorities
Growing assets remains a key focus for the remainder of 2024, with 62% of our clients citing it as their top priority. Following growing assets, the second most sited priority was the desire to boost operational efficiency (31%). Together, these two priorities accounted for nearly all of the feedback, demonstrating the intense pressure to scale while optimizing internal processes as economic headwinds persist.
In a competitive environment, speed to market is a crucial differentiator. Firms need to bring new products to market quickly, not only to capitalize on opportunities but also to stay ahead of competitors. As we wrote earlier this year, an outsourced provider can help firms execute their strategy faster and more efficiently than relying solely on an internal infrastructure.
Navigating industry challenges
When asked about their biggest challenges, our clients highlighted cybersecurity threats (41%), regulatory complexity (27%), and global economic uncertainty (17%) as the three most pressing concerns. It’s easy to see the connection between addressing these challenges and achieving strategic priorities. Asset managers today must be able to operate with precision and control, especially as the risk potential from cyber threats, evolving regulatory requirements, and geopolitical events become more pronounced on their businesses.
Take regulatory complexity, for example, which is increasingly difficult to manage without the right support. Keeping up with new regulations and ensuring compliance can strain internal teams. In this context, outsourced providers with compliance expertise can offer an added layer of certainty, helping firms manage risk and stay compliant without diverting attention from core business objectives. Because of this, STP recently launched a compliance practice to help our firms protect their business.
Global economic uncertainty continues to loom, adding pressure on investment firms to find operational efficiencies wherever possible. Firms are increasingly turning to technology to mitigate these risks. However, the disruptions caused by technological advancements bring their own set of challenges, forcing firms to reassess their strategies for managing complex data and workflows.
How outsourced providers can help
To address these challenges, asset managers are increasingly looking to stable, trusted outsourced provider partnerships. These partnerships provide more than just operational relief – they offer access to modern technology and industry expertise that can help firms grow with confidence. Outsourcing to trusted partners enables firms to maintain a sharp focus on their key priorities while outsourcing partners take on the burden of managing compliance and cyber risks.
One of the critical components of outsourcing success is access to cutting-edge technology that handles today’s operational demands. Data governance, workflow management, and compliance systems must be robust enough to meet regulatory requirements and fend off cyber threats while remaining flexible enough to adapt to the evolving needs of the business.
Leveraging technology to streamline investment operations
One of the recent initiatives we are particularly proud of is the launch of BluePrint, a cloud-native platform designed to transform investment management operations. By unifying fragmented data into a single, user-friendly interface, BluePrint streamlines data management and reporting. This platform empowers managers by providing fast, flexible access to portfolio insights, improving decision-making, and enhancing the investor experience.
Key features of BluePrint include interactive dashboards, automated reporting, and secure investor portals that reduce time and frustration for both managers and investors. Instead of juggling multiple platforms, firms can rely on BluePrint to consolidate data sources, cut operational friction, and position themselves ahead of the curve.
Our survey results challenged us to continue innovating on behalf of our clients, and BluePrint is one example of how we’re meeting that challenge. It’s a platform designed to help firms not only navigate industry challenges but also thrive in a competitive environment.
If you’re interested in learning more about BluePrint, we’d encourage you to check out the official announcement and welcome any questions or feedback.
