Joint study identifies opportunities for institutional investors to help improve daily work processes
CHICAGO [October 27, 2020] – Backstop Solutions Group, the industry’s leading cloud-based productivity suite for institutional and alternative investors, and Mercer, a global leader in redefining the world of work, reshaping retirement and investment outcomes, and unlocking real health and well-being, and a business of Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MMC), today announce an original research report, “The 2020 Institutional Investor Productivity Study.”
The detailed results will be released at Backstop Beyond, Backstop’s annual conference for the institutional investment industry – to be held virtually this year on October 27th and 28th.
Over 200 respondents working at institutional investment organizations were surveyed about the tasks on which they spend the most time and if they are satisfied with the technology solutions currently in place to help in accomplishing those tasks.
A key finding reveals that allocators spend approximately one third of their time on tasks that do not add value to the investment process and that could be automated or enabled with better technology.
“Decision makers within institutional investment companies are taking time away from making crucial investment decisions, as they are currently dedicating too much time on non-core tasks that can be streamlined with technology,” said Clint Coghill, Chief Executive Officer, Backstop. “Using the right cloud-based and mobile-friendly solutions can free up bandwidth by eliminating manual tasks and allowing investment teams to focus on high-value work that requires their specialized judgment, expertise, and experience. There is a clear opportunity for asset allocators across the industry to help improve the alignment of their people, processes, and technology in order to be more effective.”
Moreover, the survey shows that allocators are spending their time on these lower-value tasks that also don’t match their level of education, skill or experience. These professionals are spending 30 percent of their time on relatively lower-value tasks that could be streamlined, automated, or augmented with technology solutions. As a result, they are spending just 50% of their time meeting with or conducting due diligence on new and existing managers, which are critical, core tasks that allow allocators to piece together an investment worldview and act accordingly.
This is reinforced by survey data that demonstrates that 75 percent of respondents are either indifferent or dissatisfied with the technology functionality currently available to them. Ultimately, 65 percent of respondents reported thinking that “there must be a better way to do this” within the last week, which suggests that this issue is constantly top of mind, and they would genuinely and enthusiastically welcome tools, solutions, and systems that can help them address this issue.
“Now more than ever, institutional investors and investment professionals need to optimize their working day,” said Dan Bristow, Global Head of Analytics, Research & Tools for Mercer. “The ability to quickly find, absorb and share pertinent information leads to enhanced productivity and help improve execution of core investment responsibilities. At a time when on-site investment due diligence is challenging, investors are increasingly seeking to harness better technology, and digital sources of investment research, to supplement their decision making processes and help improve both efficiency and outcomes.”
To register for Backstop Beyond and attend the session where the full findings will be presented, please register here.
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About Backstop Solutions Group, LLC
Backstop’s mission is to help the institutional investment industry use time to its fullest potential. We develop technology to simplify and streamline otherwise time- consuming tasks and processes, enabling our clients to quickly and easily access, share, and manage the knowledge that is critical to their day-to-day business success. Backstop provides its industry-leading cloud-based productivity suite to investment consultants, pensions, funds of funds, family offices, endowments, foundations, private equity, hedge funds, and real estate investment firms.
About Mercer
Mercer believes in building brighter futures by redefining the world of work, reshaping retirement and investment outcomes, and unlocking real health and well-being. Mercer’s more than 25,000 employees are based in 44 countries and the firm operates in over 130 countries. Mercer is a business of Marsh & McLennan (NYSE: MMC), the world’s leading professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and people, with 76,000 colleagues and annual revenue of $17 billion. Through its market-leading businesses including Marsh, Guy Carpenter and Oliver Wyman, Marsh & McLennan helps clients navigate an increasingly dynamic and complex environment. For more information, visit www.mercer.com. Follow Mercer on Twitter @Mercer.
For further information contact:
Maryling Yu
Chief Marketing Officer
(312) 277 1189
maryling.yu@backstopsolutions.com
James Allan
U.S. Public Relations, Mercer
+1 212 345 1315
james.allan@mercer.com
