I love using analogies and metaphors… I used to talk a lot about C level’s perception of data management…and equating it to a duck paddling across a pond… what C level doesn’t see is the duck’s legs paddling furiously to get from one side to another… C level doesn’t see the immense and often chaotic manual processes and time spent on getting fact sheets, client reports and sales decks out to market.
Everyone is talking about data … and everyone has a different perspective. Who really cares about data? Well, today it is a hot topic in the front-office, specifically with the distribution team.
It’s really important for the sales and distribution teams to have timely, accurate, consistent data appearing in fact sheets, RFPs, presentations, client reports, sales decks and on their websites.
Ultimately, data is the oil in the sales and distribution engine … good data helps them to sell their products… and enables the process of communication with clients and prospective investors to run smoothly.
Good data will help them deliver excellent client service, retain their customers and gain new clients… and of course, good data will ensure that the company reputation is upheld.
Even more important is ‘agile data’ -> the pipeline feeding distribution with product data and market intelligence has to be adaptable and scalable and capable of reacting to new product launches, changes in distribution channels and market regulations. The demand for more strategies is leading to more products being added to the arsenal, and the demand for greater transparency in reporting is leading to more data points per product -> this 2 dimensional demand on breadth and depth of information means the data quality management processes, compliance and governance functions all have to be agile enough to meet the demands of distribution.
But, on the other hand, bad data will muddy the waters… pour dirty data into your sales engine will over time lead to it seizing up completely! The consequences of getting it wrong are that you’ll have inaccurate, inconsistent data in the public domain … you’ll be at risk of getting in trouble with the regulator, potentially being exposed to fines and worse still, bad press – your reputation will suffer and you’ll likely lose business as a result. That really doesn’t help the sales engine run smoothly at all … outflows, loss of business, poor client service…. that could all make the sales engine seize up.
[...] Something else to note is that this is not a “fear-led” strategy i.e. it is not the fear of regulatory scrutiny and public sanctions that is driving this to the fore, it is in fact sales and distribution that are focussing the light on investment product data, as there is growing awareness that high quality and timely product data is a key driver in maintaining AUM and grabbing an even greater slice of available inflows – remember data is the oil in the investment sales engine! [...]
[...] Certainly if I were the Head of Distribution, Client Services, Marketing or Compliance/Regulation - this would be very high on my agenda. The sales and distribution engines need good quality and timely data to compete for new assets and retain existing clients. Remember my earlier post, data is the oil in the sales engine! [...]
[...] focus so heavily on applying good governance to client facing investment product data is because data is the oil in the sales engine! Feed it with bad data and the engine will start to seize up…..and a business without sales [...]
[...] the data and oil metaphor myself – from a slightly different angle though, I often refer to data being the oil in the distribution engine for investment managers – feed the engine with poor quality oil (data) and within a short [...]
[…] so heavily on applying good governance to client facing investment product data is because data is the oil in the distribution engine for many investment managers – feed the engine with poor quality oil (data) and within a short […]