Having knowledgeable, responsive and productive staff to manage your operations in an increasingly critical factor in any RIA's current and future success.
But as our previous blogs highlighted, hiring employees with the right mix of skills and holding on to them for any length of time is an ongoing challenge, especially in today's tightening labor market.
Plus staff need training and monitoring to ensure they work efficiently, and that the operational output produced is of sufficiently high quality. Technology developments are helping automate some of these tasks. However, the exception-based processes that remain tend to be the most complex and technical to resolve - which demands even higher skillsets.
But what if you could remove your hiring and output headaches?
Building and maintaining a modern, efficient, fit-for-purpose capability takes significant time, investment and focus - and no sooner have you got a team up-to-standard, but then someone leaves or switches roles, and you have to start over again!
For some firms, running this type of world-class operational capability is core to their business. For most investment advisors and asset managers though it’s just a distracting – and increasingly hefty – expense.
Outsourcing offers a quick and easy way to attain an industry-leading level of operational execution, without trying to do it all yourself (often on a restricted budget).
There are numerous benefits to outsourcing your middle- and back-office activities, but here are three of the biggest.
Outsourcing providers focus on this part of the business all day, every day. They are experts, and have to invest in their business to remain competitive.
That means they:
As a client, you get to take advantage of that. The result is improved cost efficiencies; smarter, more responsive technology; and seamless scalability, so you have on-tap flexibility to grow your business or expand into new areas. Not to mention the end to your recruiting woes.
When you outsource, you set up service-level agreements. That means you have a contract specifying the level of service you’ll receive, and legal recourse if it’s not achieved.
You no longer have to worry about:
Instead, you have peace of mind that all those operational tasks are being taken care of, with a higher quality of results, and most likely delivered to where they're needed quicker than you've been able to achieve internally.
Investors, especially institutional ones, are paying ever more attention to asset managers’ operational environments – and the attendant risks.
Outsourcing to a third-party specialist with a proven, best practice infrastructure, highly-qualified staff and robust quality assurance controls will help you satisfy the of your institutional investor clients and prospects – and is another step towards growing your business.
So while you can handle all your operational needs internally, the question is will it help your business? If not, then there is a less painful and more efficient way to go.
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