Asset managers are rapidly implementing dedicated research management platforms as the push to automate investment team workflows expands across the front-office, according to results from the 2020 Investor Survey: Modernizing Research Management report, published by MackeyRMS.

Of the larger asset managers that participated in this survey, 39 percent said that their firm implemented a third-party research management platform to enable their team to work from anywhere. Only improved workflow efficiency (50%) and better data security (44%) ranked higher. Similarly, 32 percent of respondents from funds managing $20 billion or more said the need for full-featured mobile usability was a major trigger for implementing a third-party platform.

The 2020 Investor Survey was commissioned by MackeyRMS, the leading provider of research management technology for actively managed investment portfolios; and conducted by Market Measurement, an independent market research and consulting firm. A total of 100 interviews were conducted with investing, technology, operations and compliance professionals in the asset management industry to assess their views and plans for improving internal research management processes.

The majority of survey respondents (74%) reported that their firm uses a dedicated research management application today. That group was divided between asset managers who have implemented a third-party solution (57%) and those who have built one in-house (17%).

Among the asset managers that don’t use a dedicated platform today, 96 percent said their firm was likely to extremely likely to evaluate adopting a third-party system in the next 24 months. All respondents from asset managers who built an in-house system said the same.

“Our commissioned survey makes it clear that the asset management industry is serious about modernizing the research management process,” said Chris Mackey, founder and CEO of MackeyRMS. “The drivers for this change — the need for accessibility, transparency and work-from-anywhere usability — are consistent with other front office modernization initiatives undertaken across the investment enterprise in recent years.”

Survey results also underscored the usability benefits that SaaS-based research management platforms provide. Half (50%) of the individuals whose firm implemented a SaaS-based platform said they use the system daily, compared to only 14 percent of respondents whose firm implemented a desktop application model. Of respondents using a desktop application, 27 percent said they only use the platform on a monthly basis, while 9 percent said they log in once a quarter.

Other notable results from the survey:

• 33% of asset managers using a third-party research management platform implemented it within the last two years.
• Only 18% of firms using a third-party solution say that the platform was in place more than four years ago.
• 88% of asset managers using a third-party research management system say it speeds up their response to regulatory inquiries.
• Only 59% of asset managers using a proprietary research management tool say their platform speeds up their regulatory responsiveness.
• 27% of asset managers not using any research management tools say responding can take up to or more than two weeks.

“The value that a modern, SaaS-based, full-featured mobile platform can deliver to investment organizations has rarely been as apparent as it has been during the last few weeks, with organizations having to quickly shift to working from home in the wake of recent market disruption,” Mackey added. “Events like these underscore our value proposition, and we are proud of the manner in which our clients have transitioned during these events.”

Source: MackeyRMS