m a r k e t i ns i g h t
“ surveying
the Funds Distributors ” Last April, RBC Dexia Investor Services Bank, which provides global custody, fund and pension administration and shareholder services, launched its first European survey on fund distributors’ operational challenges.
Illustration: Thomas Brodahl (Stolen.la)
Also, we are dealing with an industry whose needs are becoming more sophisticated and complex every year. Based on current trends, we are seeing fund distribution servicing becoming more specific, whereas thirdparty fund distribution is gaining in popularity and outsourcing trends are accelerating. In order to continue to provide our clients with the best suite of services possible, it is extremely important for us to be able to appraise and quantify the various needs and challenges of these fund distributors. That is the main reason of the survey, which regards our core business.
Markus Postler RBC Dexia Investor Services Bank
Markus Postler, Head Marketing and Sales, Distribution Support, at RBC Dexia Investor Services Bank presents the results of a poll that targeted 150 decision-makers. Mr Postler, what are the main reasons to conduct this survey? “Within four decades, Luxembourg has become the second most important centre worldwide in the investment funds industry. Not only because of the creation of an attractive regulatory framework for investors, fund promoters and professionals in the financial sector. But also because the ‘local global players’ understood how to anticipate and adapt to the fast-changing environment within investor services. Being one of the biggest global custodian banks worldwide and leading the transfer agency business in Luxembourg, we feel obliged to act and render a service to our clients as a thought leader.
What would be the other survey purposes? “More generally, it is also vital for us as a major player to know what markets and customers want, and to know it more clearly and quickly than the competitors. The marketing research industry worldwide is measured in billions of euros. Many large companies budget millions each year for their survey and studies. But one could also say, like Barry Diller, the CEO of Fox Broadcasting, about surveys: ‘We are becoming slaves to demographics, to market research, to focus groups. We produce what the numbers tell us to produce. And gradually, in this dizzying chase, our senses lose feeling and our instincts dim, corroded by safe action.’ Are fund distributors a specific target to survey? “One could say there is a new math out in the market; take market and product breadth and use this information to form and add exceptional services around them. Finding out what future market trends may look like is a challenging and interesting task. Customer satisfaction surveys focus solely on the given products and services provided by a company. What interested us were the more likely trends of fund distributors in terms of operational needs when buying and selling funds. Now Luxembourg is well-known as an excellent service centre for fund promoters – but servicing distributors is a completely different aspect. What were the contacts and institutions you targeted? “We interviewed 150 decision-makers with institutions, which cover a wide range of services and include private banks, family offices, global banks, pension funds, funds supermarkets and platforms, asset managers, etc. In terms of geographical scope, we focused our survey primarily on the major players in Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom. These six countries make up 80% of the volume of funds ordered in Europe. The reason for us going into this geographical split was evident and necessary. The survey will help us to understand and realise why distributors in Spain, for example, have different operational needs than
36 PAPERJAM – Special ALFI & NICSA Forum
07_36_38_postler.indd 36
14.09.2007 11:22:48 Uhr