Private Banking and IT by ITC

A recent publication by leading independent research and advisory firm Financial Insights, an IDC company, points to the quantum shift in the importance of IT as a part of the private banks' world, and provides an overview of the most relevant solutions available in the arena. The report entitled, "Private Banking: Volume 2 - Software Solution Vendor Analysis"(Doc#FIN213931), outlines private banking software solutions requirements by the Asian market, and presents a snapshot of the prominent private banking solution vendors in Asia. It also discusses the typical package selection criteria adopted by private banks to narrow down their search for the most appropriate solution provider, and issues vendors need to keep top-of-mind when targeting the market.

Financial Insights analyses the market in Asia.
"With the competitive changing panorama for private banks, it has become increasingly crucial that these institutions boast a stellar supporting technology backbone," comments Li-May Chew, CFA, senior research manager for Financial Insights Asia/Pacific Financial Advisory Service. "The key vendors which we explored in this report include ERI, Odyssey Financial Technologies, SS&C Technologies, SunGard, and Temenos. Topics covered include vendors' solution architectures, notable functionalities, selected references, on-ground presence, as well as Financial Insights' opinion of them. "

Li-May points out that "no two vendors appear to be competing head-on within the same space, with the same breadth of solution, or depth of offerings. Odyssey for instance, excels within the front- and middle- office offerings, while SS&C Technologies provides particular focus on clients' middle-office asset valuations and accounting requirements."

On how private banks should narrow down their search for the most appropriate solution provider, Financial Insights believes that the selection of a private banking system goes beyond merely buying packaged software with a static set of functions. Banks should take several factors into consideration. For instance, vendor offerings should correlate with the their commercial strategies; banks must consider the vendors' current and future fit with their existing platform and operating system; banks should seek vendors who are at the forefront of innovation and that have business models with high R&D components; and, preferably, vendors who utilize a system that incorporates a healthy balance of customizable components with past experiences and best practices.

Meanwhile, on the vendor's end, they are advised to implement solutions focused on customer analytics and relationship management; explore Web interfaces to support wealth managers in their proficiency and service execution; keep a close watch on clients' portfolio and risk management requirements; and offer performance and profitability management matrices that provide multi-dimensional analysis at the intersection of customer, product, and channel; which can help identify profit generators and constraints.