The report led by research firm Chartis and backed by IT services provider SunGard also indicated most firms were behind in realizing the execution of risk management as an integral part of their investment strategy.

 

The report draws upon responses from 196 participants surveyed from 32 countries globally. Survey participation comprised of 33% C-level executives and 27% portfolio managers across institutional asset managers, wealth management firms, private banks, hedge funds, pension managers, and sovereign wealth with a wide range of assets under management.

 

The analysis found that risk management is seen as an integral and crucial component of investment strategy across 89% of respondents. However, a large disparity exists between participants understanding the importance of risk and the reality of day-to-day execution within their firms. Ninety percent saw risk as an individually driven aspect of portfolio management with each investment strategy driven by the person in charge. The report identified that there is significant room for revising risk infrastructure and the quality of risk data to take advantage of new opportunities afforded by integrated risk technologies.

 

When asked to identify the top risk management challenges and where organizations would benefit from improved use of risk data, 90% of respondents ranked better transparency and interactivity of risk analytics, while 79% cited multi-asset class risk systems, and about 87% said improving granularity or frequency of risk reporting for internal stakeholders.

 

In addition, 91% reported data quality was a significant or important challenge, while 87% cited risk data aggregation. 

 

“As larger asset managers look beyond the compliance objective, they are seeking full oversight of their risk and the ability to be more nimble. The on-demand aspect of risk is increasing at the C level, and they do not want to have to wait for scenarios or reports. We also expect the trend for risk aggregation to continue down to mid-tier asset managers. The need to consolidate risk solutions and services to better manage risk in support of business objectives was also highlighted in this report. We found that 24% of firms have one system, 39% have two independent systems, and 28% have three or more,” says Peyman Mestchian, managing partner at Chartis Research.

 

Laurence Wormald, chief operating officer and head of research APT, SunGard’s asset management business said: “This evolution follows the 2008 financial crisis as organizations want to know what unexpected risks they may face and to ensure that they meet the demands of the regulators.”

 

“If organizations under-utilize risk as a strategic component of their investment offering, then they are missing an opportunity,” says Wormald.