There is a competition between Cupid and Norah Ephron! Cupid today is as cold as steel. It is more calculative than Shylock. But it is still sassy as Samantha, the artificially intelligent virtual assistant, with a remarkable tenacity for learning.
Considering the way AI has made entry in our modern lives it is hardly surprising that the dispenser of love spells in the millennial age is AI as well. What began as a game with Tinder’s profile swipes, has now progressed to serious stuff – chat-catalyzing text prompts for enabling small talk and on-demand emojis for better understanding of the non-verbal cues. Making all this possible are smart algorithms, data analytics, easily navigable interphases, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing.
Flirty, funny, or formal – How AI plays cupid’s game?
Though lacking the emotional button, the human element as we prefer to call it, AI can still help anyone impress their date just by processing tons and tons of the data that they unsuspectingly left behind every time they swiped left or right, checked a box, or used a conversational tool to for small talk. Let’s have a look at how apps that leverage technology help you date.
Every time the user swipes left or right, the app decodes what the user likes. Further, the innocent survey questions that the user answers hide codes, encryptions, and rules-engines that also help the app accumulate data and build a concrete knowledge base.
Once the match has been made, it is time to initiate a conversation. Some people are intimidated by small talk. Hence, navigating, the next level of dating which necessarily includes some small talk can be tricky or tiresome – not simply because of the lack of words and time, but also because consistently decoding the non-verbal and verbal cues and signals is a challenge for any human.
Now that there thanks to Open AI, multiple conversation starters can be integrated into the dating application. With the help of artificially stimulated conversation, a person can be anything that they want to be – smart, witty, resourceful, formal, flirty, or fun.
As some tools can also help read non-verbal cues, you can progress with the relationship faster. There are AI love advisors for personalized assistance with dating – from buying gifts to resolving minor tiffs, there’s a lot you can approach it for. In short, with AI you can cut short the needless chit-chat and get to work on the relationship faster.
However, it is too early to bet on AI. Some of the experts have pointed out that while AI could be dumb and was indeed completely over the top other times, there were still times when it truly worked. So, we might still have to wait and watch how effective AI is in taking over from Cupid and Nora Ephron, but when it comes to Capital Markets AI, there is no question that AI is a game changer.
AI in Capital Markets
Doing the dirty work: In the world of capital markets, the messiest task is basically extracting and transforming data so that it is always accurate and up to date. For all the brokers, custodians, corporates, fund admins, investment managers and service providers, who hedge and hustle in the market on a daily basis, data is undoubtedly the key player. Whether it is equities, stocks, futures, derivatives, shareholding rights, mergers and acquisitions, sell-offs, buy-backs, corporate actions, etc., the amount of data that capital markets deal with daily is astronomical. Thanks to its ability to leverage huge quantities of data accurately in concert with RPA, AI is making a huge impact in the world of capital markets.
For some time now AI, automation, and NLP have been making it easier for the back and middle offices to streamline their work flows and make their operations smoother with AI. Many of the repetitive tasks in back and middle offices have been made less cumbersome due to AI. Whether it is updating client data in record systems –digitizing it, error reconciliations, or contract data management, the implications of the use of AI are huge as these provide financial institutions with a cheaper alternative.
Using AI for Customer Onboarding – Getting to the Business without wasting time : Now, let’s take another example of the use but from an absolutely dissimilar world – that of the financial services (because that is what we cater to). Let us take the example of onboarding a new customer. How the KYC or onboarding is conducted goes a long way in defining the customer experience and that in turn will have a big impact on whether the customer decides to stay and provide more business opportunities or leave right away. While it would be presumptuous to compare onboarding with dating, there certainly is some common ground.
New Customers are like First Dates
Customers are like first dates and would like to be treated with respect and instead of wasting time, they would like to know whether it would be reasonable to progress with the business initiative. Erratic customer onboarding is not at all acceptable to millennial customers, and many even feel that the product lacks the credibility required.
Hence, a tool like DeepSightTM , specifically built for broker-dealers, custodians, corporates, fund admins, investment managers and service providers providing customized and compliance-ready solutions is just what they need. It helps navigate the noise, so just like the dating app that matches the profiles, you like, capture only what you want – data from fields that you need.
The tenacity for learning is critical for any AI tool: As the number and type of fresh KYC documents processed into the system increase, the AI engine continuously learns and will be able to interpret, understand and capture data with greater precision.
Seamlessly upload documents and export data: Consolidate documents received from clients from various channels including email, Dropbox, Slack etc. Magic DeepSightTM allows you to immediately import this data and then directly export the clean, organized, structured data to your existing workflow, without disturbing any existing systems.
In conclusion: A thought to how AI has made lives easier and how it is shaking up the capital markets and the dating game. With AI, you are promised agility and flexibility and quick response times. So, if you too would like to know how you can cut through the unnecessary dilly-dallying and onboard customers faster by providing them a better experience, or how to use alterative and unstructured data for staying ahead of competition, you can write to us mail@magicfinserv.com.
“I never saved anything for the swim back.” Anton in Gattaca.
The Boston Marathon is like no other marathon in the country or the world. Its popularity is such that there are people who run the marathon, not once, but twice, and sometimes even more.
Anyone who has run the Boston Marathon would know that it is the ultimate test of grit, endurance, and perseverance. Considered the oldest marathon in the world, the Boston Marathon was first run in April 1897. The marathon is now entering its 127 th year. The inspiration behind the first Boston Marathon was the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, which featured a marathon for the first time ever in the history of the sporting event.
What makes the Boston Marathon such a singular experience is its inclusivity. You do not have to be a sportsperson to take part in the run (though that does give you an advantage). You could be a banker, a philanthropist, a gamer, or a marketer; you could be in your early twenties or a septuagenarian, the criteria for participating in the Boston marathon is super basic. You must be fit enough to run.
Now that it is that time of the year for many amongst us to take the ultimate test of endurance and stamina – the Boston Marathon – we present some interesting and unlikely parallels between the run and the world of finance in 2023. Whether it is a bank, a financial institution, or a fintech, the rules are inflexible! So, watch out!
1) Be prepared for the unpredictable
Today as people irrespective of sex, age, color, and physical impairments take part in this event, their chances of getting to the finishing line depend wholly on how committed they are, how hard they have trained, and how helpful lady luck is. For there are good days. And there are days (the bad days) when realization hits – like a ton of bricks… that run is going to be way tougher than expected. If lady luck is on your side, you will get an awesome day for the run. If she plays tough, be forewarned…
Be prepared for unpredictable weather turnout. The temperature can be as high as from 90-degree heat (1976) or drop to a low of -30 degrees Fahrenheit (2018). When it is cold, hypothermia is common.
There have been instances where elite runners have dropped out of the race simply because they were not prepared for the mind-numbing cold.
De-risk and prepare for eventuality.
2023, is going to be more or less the same for FinTech’s. Unpredictable. So, how do you prepare for any eventuality. By de-risking and investing in technology. For example, as a financial services firm or fintech desiring to have an edge in capital markets, as well as mitigate any risk, you must be up-to-date, or have the inherent ability to realize how shifting market winds can impact aspects of your business. If you fail to make the best of the opportunity – make amends/or the right choices – even by a whisker, the benefits (for you and your customer) are marginalized.
For you to invest better, deploy capital in the best risk-adjusted investment opportunity/opportunities, you cannot simply continue with the traditional approach that works at a snail’s pace. With the markets getting unpredictable, and customers demanding personalization, there is a need to augment manual efforts with technology – artificial intelligence and automation, that have the inherent ability to consistently upgrade and learn. With AI, you can have better control of what is happening in the market and how you can meet the needs of your customers better by aggregating and collating vast amounts of data dispensed from multiple sources and formats, and exchanges.
So, would you prefer an opportunity to lose and hide costs and (sometimes penalties), or investment in better data management practices and analytics powered by a DCAM strategy and a bespoke tool (Magic DeepSightTM ) that only gets better with time? Magic FinServ’s solutions cater to an extremely niche segment – buy-side and capital markets. Our focused solutions leverage AI, ML, and the Cloud to enrich your data fabric from Static Data Repositories, and thereby provide the base for real-time analytics.
We are also EDMC’s DCAM Authorized Partner (DAP) and assist organizations figure the gaps in the data architecture and overall data management program with a thorough assessment and analysis. To know more, you can check how we helped a global investment firm save 40% of analysts’ time and make front-office processing activities more efficient with our bespoke tool DeepSightTM and our cloud-native abilities.
2) Brace yourself for the headwinds: Invest in partnerships!
Runners must also brace themselves for the wind (headwinds of more than 25 miles per hour) and freezing rain. Both these furies slow down the pace of the run and can be super annoying for many runners. So, in many instances, runners have found that it helps to run in a V formation – like the Geese, where you back up the teammate behind.
Partnerships are necessary – Making the most of the Magic FinServ partnership.
A) Let’s take a scenario that is pretty much normal in the world of financial services. You have invested in excellent extension workflows or transactions platform. You are capitulating on it to reduce the workload and streamline process such as reconciliations, data onboarding, governance, risk and compliance, and easing the burden of back and middle office and IT in carrying out regular day-to-day transactions such as contract management. All’s good if the app works within some predefined boundaries of influence. But that is rarely so in today’s business landscape. Not just structured data from the organization’s CRM, or processes, and silos firms would also be dealing with a lot of data emanating from public websites, third-parties, cloud, and exchanges, and in unstructured and ad hoc manner. Extracting, transforming, and validating this data amounts to a complex and mammoth activity in itself. When organizations are literally swamped with tasks related to building a brand name and revenue generation, wasting a significant amount of time in ensuring high-quality data does not make sense. With a partner like Magic FinServ, that has developed solutions that partner and coexist with traditional legacy systems and provide promised benefits.
B) We can also take the example of SDFR submission that was due on 31 st December 2022. Much of the data required was dependent on third parties and despite best efforts wasn’t available on time and when it came in the nick of time it was in an unstructured format. In the likelihood that the data is structured, automation is still a viable option as most firms are literally swamped with work year end. For conversion into machine-legible data, a tool like Magic DeepSightTM is ideal for both large and small firms as it releases resources.
C) Not just the SDFR submissions, there are many instances where we partner fintech’s and financial services organizations in enabling last-mile process automation solution. We can work as a team. Whether it is KYC, AML compliance, onboarding, cloud migration, aggregating and consolidating data for reconciliations, shareholding and voting rights disclosures, we could be the lead runner taking the brunt of the headwind, leaving you and your teams with ample time to tackle core business objectives and revenue-generation activities.
3) Be cautious of the downhills – there’s a steep climb ahead
Be careful of the downhills. The road ahead isn’t that easy. Rookie runners are lulled into a false sense of complacency when they run downhill. They run faster in the beginning because of the initial endorphin rush. But that is a bad maneuver, as muscles – quadriceps tire down real soon. And when the real test comes, the uphill run, they are out of energy and luck. The muscles cramp when the need is to fire it up.
Planning, continuous testing and agile are key to success.
Whether it is the Boston run or how FinTech’s manage to preserve their energy in 2023 – it all boils down to one thing. How carefully have they planned? That is the whole idea of having enterprises that are agile and have robust data management practices. The incorporation of specific roles and responsibilities and success criteria at each stage is keenly tied to Agile practices, and automation and technology are essential for dealing with unpredictability. As in certain formulae races, drivers take time out to test the terrain. Whether it is a new idea, a new product, a cloud migration, a thorough testing for performance, system integration, APIs, acceptance, quality reassurance, and bugs is necessary. Our 3- Step Automation strategy ™ ensures that we keep reducing the manual test effort while increasing the test coverage. We offer the entire range of testing services under one roof for your financial services business along with extensive experience with on-cloud, on-prim & mobility products.
4) Learn to deal with the curveballs: There will be plenty your way in 2023
We have also seen the business ethos go through a subtle change. It is sustainability that investors are looking for. The Unicorns have seen their time of the day, now it is time for the centaurs – companies that reach $100 million of annual recurring revenue (ARR). A new milestone when compared to the unicorns which are techs valued by investors at $1 billion or more. Centaurs are ones that have reached a stage of maturity, there is no false hope or false aura surrounding them. They are completely de- risked.
Considering that the fintech’s success is being seen in a new light, and investors have different parameters for evaluation of the value of stock, how can the fintech’s and challengers dodge the curveballs of 2023?
The answer is by becoming more data-driven or data-centric.
For example, let’s take the example of a very likely scenario – a new requirement cropping up, one that had not been anticipated earlier. The firm finds that they must migrate a process or database to the cloud to remain competitive, or they find that they have been missing certain critical data elements required for an onboarding/KYC, regulatory compliance, etc., which is common as rules change frequently. One way to doge curveballs is to eliminate the additional human/manual effort wherever possible, so that teams have the time and bandwidth to deal with the “unpredictable”. Tasks such as uploading and downloading data from consumers on an average 40% time that could have been better utilized for other purposes. Automation releases that time and provides insights faster than ever. Furthermore, if there is a pattern or curveball sitting in the data, the ability to extract it faster with tools like Magic DeepSightTM provides a definite advantage.
5) Focus on your core strengths rather than diversify: there will be plenty of time to seek new adventures later
Remaining true to your core objectives. Do not invest your time and energy in too many unnecessary activities. Whether it is a payments platform, or portfolio management, or traditional banking, or a new idea that you are bringing to the market, concentrate on making the customer experience richer and better. For what seems like curveballs can be an opportunity.
Realize the importance of data: this is the time to make it right with Magic FinServ
In the past few years, we have seen organizations going through a roller coaster when it comes to digital transformation, which has created a great deal of confusion regarding data. The risk of data existing in silos and data impersonation has increased as there are hundreds of SaaS devices and legacy tools that a mid-sized enterprise could use. Hence, the need to rethink a data-centric approach whether it comes to risk management, compliance adherence, smarter digital transformation leveraging APIs, cloud, AI, ML, and deep-rooted intelligent devices.
Magic FinServ brings a deep understanding of the financial services business to help FinTech and Buy- side firms build and support their EDM platform. We offer sophisticated tools, products, and services using AI, ML, NLP, and Analytics to manage data repositories, organize business glossaries, create and improve data lineage, review and optimize reporting rules, create and manage semantic frameworks and improve data quality of financial institutions. Here are some of the benefits that we bring to firms:
Greater productivity: Handling the astronomical amounts of data existing in different formats online and offline.
Reducing the gap between the front and back offices and thereby curbing inefficiency and rising operational costs
Ensuring on-time, on-demand delivery of services with automation, AI, ML and data-driven approaches.
Meeting the regulators requirements for transparent and granular data whether it be shareholding disclosures, ESG, or Basel III, MiFiD II, AML/KYC, etc.
Channeling greater customer delight by meeting the changing customer expectations every time.
Remember there’s always a silver lining for every dark phase if you do not give up
While the layoffs have generated a lot of debate, these contractions, many of the experts believe are related to the pandemic-era expansion. With online being the preferred mode for almost everything, the demand for online services skyrocketed. While there is no comparing human intelligence, many of the modern tools that combine automation, NLP, and artificial intelligence can streamline cumbersome processes and cut processing time significantly, so that you can reach your customer faster, sooner, and in a more personalized manner.
In Conclusion: Hold on to the strengths that made you invincible in the first place
And lastly, because we are talking about comparisons with the Boston Marathon, inclusivity is an essential ingredient for success. As the Boston marathon is one of the most inclusive sporting events, it is certainly more popular than the others. The fintech growth story too is powered by inclusivity. What the conventional financial services could not offer, encumbered as these were in legacy systems and an inflexible brick-and-mortar model, the fintechs delivered these in a matter of minutes.
The millennial fintechs made it easier to open accounts. Onboarding, due diligence, and KYC was way faster ever before, payments (even international ones) could be made from within the comfort of home, and customers could have an inside view of how their stocks fared and make better decisions with personalized updates on the mobile.
The modern financial services had a winning edge over the brick-and-mortar models because they provided customers with the same personalized service and preferential treatment that they had become accustomed to in the retail and e-commerce space.
Inclusivity begins with the cloud. As the biggest instrument of inclusivity, the cloud levels the playing field tremendously. The cloud has gone a long way from simply serving as an alternative to the physical server.
Not just the cloud, but also powerful levers like artificial intelligence, hyper-automation, machine learning, natural language processing, etc., have broadened the playing field. Whether it is a new tool, or service, inclusivity means that efforts are directed to build for any user/customer, ensuring simplicity and clarity.
In all of this, as niche player in the financial services ecosystem, Magic FinServ with its expertise in the cloud, enterprise data management, capital markets, artificial intelligence-based solutions for buy-side and sell-side, have partnered with organizations big and small retain their edge by retaining their fundamental strength – inclusivity – while optimizing returns, and increasing productivity and efficiency by manifold times. Our teams – Quality Engineering, Platform Engineering, DevOps, Application Support, and Smart Contract testing, Cloud, and DeepSightTM – have several customer success stories to their credit and ensure that your product, service, innovation, or idea matches the market requirements/promises. Thereby catching the curveballs before these could disrupt or steer you off course. So, if you too would like to doge the curveballs in 2023, write to us mail@magicfinserv.com
Managing shareholding data is a complex business. Understanding how corporate events such as buybacks, mergers and acquisitions, dividends, bonus shares, spin-offs, and others affect a company’s total share outstanding value and total voting rights is even more complex due to the proliferation of often expensive data sources, complex shareholding disclosure rules, and multiple jurisdictions. Additionally, companies invest in multiple equities spread across diverse geographies, which further increases the complexity of the task. The data itself comes from various jurisdictions and exchanges in different formats, and changes are notified in different ways, which adds to the level of complexity. Therefore, analysts must be familiar with the form and type of notifications issued by various exchanges.
Another key concern is to maintain up-to-date shareholding information, including an account of the company’s total outstanding shares, their value, and total voting rights. This information is critical not only from a fiscal and financial perspective – to calculate business growth, equity per dividend, and other downstream calculations – but also to ensure compliance with predefined compliance and disclosure rules.
Since the rules governing voting rights for a certain set of corporate actions differ across multiple jurisdictions, these actions could impact your beneficial interests due to indirect investments. To address these problems, data must be collated and extracted, incorporating the rules governing that data for the particular jurisdiction and updating their impact on the value of outstanding shares, voting rights, and more. It is critical to keep shareholding information up to date, as there have been serious consequences and hefty fines levied on Asset Managers, Hedge Funds, and Portfolio Managers in recent years for not being up to date with shareholding disclosures. For instance, French regulators recently penalized an activist fund and recommended a fine of 20 million Euros for failing to provide correct and timely information to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) about a takeover bid, thereby harming the interests of minority shareholders and impacting the market’s integrity.
Decoding Shareholding Disclosure Rules
There are shareholding disclosure rules that asset managers and hedge funds must comply with. These rules help establish control and trigger warnings in a timely manner, ensuring that the interests of the market and investors are not compromised.
Shareholding Disclosure Rules
Not a cakewalk!
Although not keeping an updated record of shareholding can result in serious consequences, keeping track of shareholder data and voting rights is not a simple task that can be done with a flick of a wrist like a magic trick. Many firms still rely on manual data collection and aggregation, making the process even more challenging. This is how the traditional, largely manual As-Is business flow for shareholder disclosure and shareholder data management operates:
Secondly, globalization has led to firms investing in equities globally. This trend has made shareholder data management complicated, as firms now have to contend with multiple jurisdictions.
Getting Clear and Updated Shareholding Data! What are the options available?
Asset managers require a comprehensive understanding and reporting of various types of shares, including equity shares, authorized share capital, issued share capital, right shares, bonus shares, sweat equity shares, preference shares, cumulative and non-cumulative preference shares, participating and non-participating preference shares, and convertible and non-convertible preference shares. These shares should be available in both structured and unstructured formats within company reports such as the balance sheet and financial statement, as well as data terminals.
Additionally, it is necessary to consolidate and aggregate the different types of shares mentioned earlier. A precise centralized data system must be in place, complete with a rule-based intelligent process that accesses data sources in a timely manner and stays up to date with corporate events that impact shareholding and voting rights.
As highlighted earlier, managers who hold international stock holdings that fall under different jurisdictions face complex regulatory and compliance issues. For example, the company issuing the stocks, also known as the issuer, may have different share capital requirements depending on the jurisdiction and market, including preference shares, unlisted shares, or derivatives trading.
As an asset manager or hedge fund, firms have three options to consider:
A) They could use their own platform/product to process compliance or regulatory filings. This would result in the firm managing shareholder information on its own while using the data services of a data vendor.
B) Alternatively, the fund could use the services of a third-party platform such as a Reg-Tech and compliance product. In this case, the third-party platform/product would use shareholder information from another data provider for the securities portion of the portfolio. The third-party organization will charge costs depending on the jurisdiction they are covering, as this is an on-demand service.
C) Alternatively, funds and wealth managers could outsource the shareholder disclosure and reporting task in its entirety to a BPM vendor to save time and effort while keeping up with the latest requirements. This would give them everlasting peace of mind as they would no longer have to worry about missing deadlines or regulatory requirements.
Process Automation: Benefits of Automated, Rules-Based, Comprehensive, End-to-End Solution
Since the 2008 financial crisis, shareholding disclosures have become an obligatory reporting requirement. However, over the years, the associated complexities with reporting have increased manifold. It is no longer feasible to manually review financial statements and public website data to ensure timely compliance. Process automation is the solution to simplify shareholder data management and shareholding disclosures, ensuring accurate and timely insights for downstream calculation, compliance adherence, and other activities related to the organization’s health.
A complete end-to-end niche solution, like the one offered by Magic FinServ, that combines technology and managed services and is driven by a team of experts in both the financial and technology domains, can help eliminate the pain points associated with shareholder data management and shareholding disclosures. With a unique “rule-driven” solution that aligns with geographical requirements, such a solution can keep funds and wealth managers up to date with the latest developments.
Key Features of Magic FinServ’s Solution Component:
Data Management: This feature manages all instrument identifier data and all other information required for extracting information from exchanges in multiple jurisdictions.
Document Record Management: This feature manages all documents and stores them in a structured or normal PDF format after conversion from unstructured formats.
Rule Engine: The rule-based engine is a critical component of Magic FinServ’s offering as it defines the rules for extracting information from documents.
API Integration: The solution can be easily integrated with other existing platforms and systems for data consumption.
Reporting and Dashboard: This feature demonstrates and generates a report based on business criteria.
Solution Features
Timely and accurate data is always important, especially with regards to shareholding disclosure and voting rights, particularly when the threshold is crossed for substantial shareholders and takeover bids. However, extracting and feeding correct information into workflows can be an excruciating exercise and not as simple as pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
Magic FinServ helps achieve all the objectives mentioned earlier in a timely manner. This begins with tracking corporate action events, automatically accessing relevant notification sites, reading, and extracting the data to identify key value pairs, and transforming it to the investing company’s data standards. Rules are then applied, and the final outcome is fetched into the investment table and various other reporting forms.
If you would like to learn more about how we can help, please connect with us today at mail@magicfinserv.com
The world of finance is constantly evolving, and the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought about significant changes in the fintech industry. AI technologies are being utilized by financial institutions to streamline operations, reduce costs, and enhance customer experiences. In this infographic blog post, we will explore the impact of AI on the world of fintech, its various applications, and the potential benefits that it can offer to both financial institutions and consumers.
