In this infographic, we illustrate some of our key findings on how investment platforms are coping in a turbulent world.
As we near the end of 2020, platforms are now very much back in the skies, in contrast to the aviation industry and in fact most business sectors. Some of the platform Jumbos may have lost a little altitude, and a couple are even being flown by new pilots, but none of the fleet have been grounded.
Our research shows that the platform industry is more profitable than 2017, however this is still heavily reliant on a small number firms. In 2017, just over half of platforms were loss making, however in 2019 this trend has reversed and almost 60% were profitable. We’ve all been affected by the challenges of 2020 and these improvements could easily be reversed.
A typical investment platform will use at least 10 different systems to deliver a full service to clients, with only some of these focussed on typical operational capabilities. The potential for duplication and overlap between systems is substantial and the cost of integrating them can be daunting, leading to an often major impact on profits.
