Delivering solutions in the complex and constantly changing world of Financial Services can often seem like piecing together a giant jigsaw without the picture on the lid. By applying clear architectural thinking to business issues, Altus Consultants can show how the pieces fit together before you start - avoiding the cost and frustration of getting it wrong.
Here are a few examples of current FS issues where we are helping clients get from business challenge to effective solutions.
Corporate Wrap
There’s not been much mention of the mass affluent market for investments recently. A combination of the financial crisis, RDR proposals and DB pension scheme closures have all combined to make the investment advice sector look distinctly unappealing. Not surprising then that providers are looking for new ways to reinvigorate the market and to get their product to a wider audience nor that several are eyeing the workplace as a potential route to riches in the form of Corporate Wrap. But there’s much more to building a viable model in this market than a few big deals with EB Consultants.
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Retail Distribution Review
The FSA has shown it means business with CP09/18. There’s still time for a few late twists but it is clear that the old commission model and the complex web of charging that supports it are about to get blown away. That means major changes for the core systems and processes of both adviser firms and product providers. Neither the systems nor the processes are simple; but those companies that start preparing an integrated business and IT response now will be best placed to take advantage of the opportunities that the RDR will present.
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Disclosure
It is not just the FSA that is concerned about the quality of information customers receive; across Europe regulators are tightening up the rules. IMD has taken longer to implement across the Channel but is now shining a spotlight on disclosure and particularly on calculations - not just getting them right but getting them consistent over a policy lifecycle. Our Consultants have been busy ensuring that our clients have the right architecture to meet the challenge.
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The Credit Crunch
As the recession bites, pressure is mounting on change managers both to justify new projects and to reduce the risk of failure. Assessing architecture implications on paper rather than discovering them mid-project was always a sound idea but is even more attractive now there’s less money to throw at development. That kind of early architectural judgement requires an independent view plus practical experience of complex Financial Services change.
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Treating Customers Fairly
Most people agree with the sentiment of Principles-based regulation but the practise can cause consternation among Compliance teams. How do you prove that you’ve considered the latest business changes from a customer perspective? Embedding our tailored Customer Experience pictures in your change process is a good start.
Wrap
As the UK Wealth Management industry rushed to catch up with technology developments in the US and Australia, new Wrap platforms seemed to be announced almost weekly. Now the hype has calmed down and providers are discovering just what it takes to make a new business model work – a clear picture of the whole value chain and what flows where.
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Personal Accounts
Personal Accounts has become shorthand for a whole raft of regulatory changes introduced by The Pensions Act 2008. But whilst the new low-cost national scheme is certainly central to the latest reforms, their impact will be felt much more widely. Auto-enrolment, mandatory minimum contributions and an inevitable pressure on charges will force a complete rethink of how workplace pensions are delivered and operated. That will mean big change for systems and processes…
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Information Security
The Poynter Review into HMRC's loss of 25m child benefit records in October 2007 contains useful lessons for both HMRC and financial services companies, highlighting a continuing reliance on physical media transfer with its inherent security risks. But securing online data transfer isn't as simple as "use https". A considered architectural approach to information security is the only reliable way to prevent embarrassing losses.
Solvency 2
First it was Banking with a new Basel accord, now it’s the turn of the Insurance industry with Solvency 2; sterner capital adequacy controls are an inevitable consequence of globalisation. As with the banks’ experience, data quality will be the key to success for big insurers. Our unique approach to mapping key data journeys and the most likely pollution points can provide a powerful tool to get ahead.
"Altus brought a rare ability to engage a business audience and help them see the relevance of technology to their own issues"
Rob Hudson, Head of Strategy & Architecture, AXA UK
Downloads
- General Insurer: Establishing a common language (523 Kb)
- Wrap Platform Provider: EA Tooling (158 Kb)
- CMI: Architecture against a deadline (260 Kb)
- Friends Provident: Principles to Process (251 Kb)
- On-line Portal Provider: STP performance (164 Kb)
- Friends Provident: A German Twist (177 Kb)
- HBOS EFS: Building a business of scale (138 Kb)
- Clerical Medical: Technology and Tradition (510 Kb)
- Capita Life & Pensions: Shaping an industry (278 Kb)
- AXA: Leveraging the benefits of scale (169 Kb)
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