Following on from the Irish Funds event in May, the eShare events team headed to Berlin to attend FundForum International.
This was the first time that eShare had attended the event, and with over 1,400 CEO’s, asset managers and other attendees from the funds sector, the team took to the stand with gusto. Having only recently attended Irish Funds, we were keen to continue some of the conversations that we had there, and predictably, talk soon turned to Brexit and the geo-political climate, and in particular the uncertainty surrounding cross border distribution.
With these uncertain times also comes a heightened awareness of risk management and with that, an increase in regulations, and whilst a lot of these regulations need to be fully addressed and understood in terms of compliance, the regulators themselves welcome Fintech innovations and new solutions to help with these. However, with the adoption of new technology comes new risks, including increased potential for cyber-crime and the risk of approving finance for controversial investors such as terrorist groups, if the wrong technologies are adopted, or implemented hastily without the required security. With the potential problems still ringing in their ears, the attendees were very keen to learn about our ISO27001 accredited data centres in the UK and Luxembourg. Security is something that we take very seriously and the ability to demonstrate this on such a stage was a real positive to take from the event.
As ever, the increase in regulations are for the purpose of increasing transparency, and this topic was one we picked up many times throughout the 3 days at FundForum. The funds sector is very busy and overall the industry is going through many changes and have really embraced the need for technology. The understanding seems to be that only those with a clear and demonstrative good governance structure will survive and thrive. What was also clear is that the scrutiny of firms’ culture and conduct, including corporate and fund governance was going to remain a focus, and with the threat of greater prosecution powers by regulators and sanctions applying personally to directors, reassurance of compliance and transparency is key.
The conversations and discussions held on the stand and throughout the event were lively and it was great to see so much enthusiasm to tackle whatever the future may throw at the funds industry. The attendees were incredibly knowledgeable about the increase in regulations as well as the need for technology to help with these and to increase their governance and transparency, so we were able to have some very in depth and fruitful discussions. Transparency is something that BoardPacks can play a significant role in, so it was most encouraging to see the window of opportunity that is opening for us, with asset managers globally.
Whilst FundForum was longer than most of the events we have attended recently, the time flew by and we cannot wait to attend again next year. In the meantime however we have lots of great conversations to carry on, and having a better grasp on the challenges that are coming up for the funds industry, we are in a much stronger position to help you with all your needs.
If you would like to know more about our work within the funds industry throughout Europe, then please get in touch.
