Advisors and Alternative Investors Embrace Automation to Manage Data and Workflows, Finds New Report from Canoe Intelligence and WealthManagement.com
NEW YORK, August 26, 2021 – Canoe Intelligence (“Canoe”), a financial technology company redefining data management processes for alternative investors, wealth managers, asset servicers, and capital allocators, today announced a new report, “The Role of Technology in Managing Alternative Investments,” produced in partnership with WealthManagement.com and Informa Connect. Through a survey of more than 400 advisors and alternative investors, the report identifies some of the most significant alternative investment challenges that advisors face today, as well as potential solutions.
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Key findings in the report include:
- 54% of respondents spend at least 10 hours a week managing documents for alternative investments
- Firms with AUM of $1 billion or more are likely to have 10 or more employees devoted to client reporting and/or managing alternative investment workflows
- 65% of respondents plan to move away from manual processes to solve alternative investment data challenges
- Only 41% of respondents currently use automated technology to manage alternative investment document and data workflows
- 81% of respondents who outsource the management of their alternative investments, experience challenges in performing this work
- 30% of advisors report access to alternative funds and investment products as a pressing issue
The advisor community has rapidly adopted alternative investments in recent years due to shrinking returns in traditional asset classes, pressure to differentiate, and increased client demand. This shift has not come without pain points. In the report, survey respondents cited data reconciliation and validation, and a high volume of manual work among other challenges. More than half of respondents said they spend at least 10 hours a week managing associated documents.
While some advisors have outsourced these tasks, this too comes with challenges, as survey respondents pointed to a lack of control and reduced access to documents. The report found that automation is quickly becoming a universally accepted approach to manage alternative investment workflows. Forty-one percent of respondents are already using automated technology for this purpose, while an additional 44% are actively considering doing so. This trend becomes more pronounced as the scale increases, with 90% of advisors with $10 billion to $25 billion currently leveraging or planning to leverage automation.
“We didn’t want to be in the business of handling data constantly,” said Joe Kolker, Director of Operations at Corient Capital Partners, a Canoe client. “Canoe is a huge time saver. It takes multiple steps off our hands, making the whole process more efficient.”
“The shift to alternatives has unlocked key business benefits for advisors, but it has also created a new wave of operational pressures,” said Tim Loughrey, Head of Client Success at Canoe. “To thrive in this environment, advisors are increasingly exploring automated systems that can extract key information from a huge volume of sources and upload it to existing portfolio and reporting platforms. By leveraging systems like ours, advisors get the productivity benefits of an outsourced solution while retaining the access and control of a manual workflow. We believe that automation has incredible potential to democratize alternative investments, and we are proud to partner with WealthManagement.com and Informa Connect to share these findings with the advisor community.”
The release of the report coincides with a successful period for Canoe with continued adoption of automated technology for managing alternative investment documents and data by institutional investors and wealth managers alike. In the last quarter, the firm has announced the additions of State Street, Galaxy Investment Partners, and PartnersAdmin to its client roster.
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About Canoe Intelligence
Canoe Intelligence reimagines alternative investment data processes for hundreds of leading institutional investors, capital allocators, asset servicing firms, and wealth managers. By combining industry expertise with the most sophisticated data capture technologies, Canoe’s technology automates the highly frustrating, time-consuming, and costly manual workflows related to alternative investment document and data management, extraction, and delivery. With Canoe, clients can refocus capital and human resources on business performance and growth, increase efficiency, and gain deeper access to their data. Canoe’s AI-driven platform was developed in 2013 for Portage Partners LLC, a private investment firm. Learn more: www.canoeintelligence.com
MEDIA CONTACT:
Alex Hamer
Forefront Communications for Canoe Intelligence
212-320-8981 x712