CEO Comment:

TAKING GROWTH A STEP FURTHER

by SimCorp CEO Peter L. Ravn

We at SimCorp view risk, cost and growth as the key strategic drivers of the financial industry. it is our mission to help corporate clients identify ways to mitigate risk, reduce cost and enable growth in the global investment management industry.

Sharing this mission is SimCorp StrategyLab. As an independent research institution, it recently published its 'Report on Global Investment Management Growth Survey 2010’. Among the interesting conclusions was that after a long period with focus on mitigating risk and managing cost, growth now seems to be the first strategic priority among investment management companies. Based on its findings, the survey concludes that companies with higher annual revenues, a clear strategic focus on growth and a significant proportion of MBAs/finance degrees among staff – all factors in evidence at SimCorp incidentally – likely will continue to enjoy the above average growth rates they have experienced in the past.

What it also shows is that companies that focus on growth tend to achieve it, whereas a primary focus on cost – to cite just one example – does not necessarily produce the same results. Perhaps equally important, larger investment management companies seem to have more confidence in their IT infrastructure than their smaller counterparts.

Given the wave of regulatory initiatives currently underway, the survey indicates that the above trends can be expected to accelerate. The larger a company is, the better educated workforce, the better IT infrastructure, the better positioned for new regulatory requirements, the better it will be capable of offering competitive products at competitive prices and achieving profitable growth due to economies of scope and scale.

Along with the survey, SimCorp StrategyLab has published its latest volume on the global asset management industry. In ‘Growth and value creation in asset management’, professionals and experts from the investment management industry and research share their views and insights. They address such key issues as what it takes to implement successful growth strategies, how value can be created in a durable and sustainable way and what the future implications of operational challenges and IT architecture are. SimCorp StrategyLab has already published two essential volumes: one on risk and one on cost. With this third and final volume on growth, SimCorp StrategyLab has taken a step further in its mission to identify the key parameters driving the industry today.

Growth and value creation will also be on the agenda at the SimCorp Dimension International User Community Meeting (IUCM) on 8-10 September in Berlin. Among the conference programme highlights are sharing ideas about excellence offered by industry leaders and participating in workshops about industry sector challenges and best practices. I certainly look forward to seeing many of our clients there.

Peter L. Ravn, Ph.D., is CEO at SimCorp.