The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people work in many areas of financial services. As technology-driven practices become prevalent and many companies are likely to offer remote working options indefinitely, what is the big picture for the future of work in asset management?
1. As COVID-19 spread around the world, asset managers have faced the challenge of transitioning to remote working. This transformation of staff working outside the office relied on technologies that had not been tested in this way.
2. The industry has been successful, with very little disruption to business. Not only has this accelerated the use of data and technology, but it has also shown its effectiveness.
3. As technology evolves, the future of work may focus less on the location of the asset manager and more on how they access and value data.
A successful transition to telecommuting
What sometimes gets lost in the discussion of the pros and cons of remote working is the question of what’s best for the business in general – and customers in particular.
To answer this question, we need to go back to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when asset managers faced a double challenge.
The first was asset and customer management at a time when investment and income models were challenged: between February 12 and March 23, 2020, the Dow Jones lost 37% of its value. But it was at least a familiar issue to those who had been through previous crises.
The new challenge was the shift to remote working, relying on technologies that had never been tested in this way.
The industry has been successful, with very little disruption to business. Not only has this accelerated the use of data and technology, but it has also been shown to be effective. It has also seen staff make more use of portable devices. Source ; Limitless workspace
Many employees have found that working remotely can not only be more productive, but also give them more time with family and friends, while saving on travel costs. And a number of people with greater family and / or family responsibilities thrived in this more flexible environment, as the value of “presenteeism” diminished.
In short, a genius difficult to bottle.
The future of work will be tech-driven
So, what future for work?
Well, due to the factors outlined above, management or employees may have little incentive to revert to the status quo. Remaining issues, such as the “apprentice model” where entry-level staff learn by doing, are already being addressed with new programs designed to provide more formal levels of networking and on-the-job learning.
The greatest risk may be that focusing too heavily on the “future of work” does not focus enough on the future of the industry.
The real question may not be how to combine office work and remote work, but how to switch securely and seamlessly between platforms and devices: 82% of those polled in our survey say that interoperability standards are important to their businesses.
In an increasingly competitive space, it will be technology and data rather than business models that will improve efficiency and help generate the essential alpha that can differentiate active management from passive investment models. . While the human element will likely be more vital than ever, physical location or proximity might be less of a factor.
So, in the future, the question may not be where you work, but how you access your data and what value you get from it. Limitless Workspace: Explore How Financial Institutions Can Boost Productivity and Discover Insights Through New Ways of Working with Data
