Digitalisation: short project lead times and high implementation reliability with the platform approach

Guest article by Dr. Harald Brock, Executive Manager/Managing Director, investify TECH

Banks and asset managers often have one major concern when it comes to digitalization: do they open Pandora’s box and start an eternally long project that not only costs more money than planned, but also ties up a lot of their own resources? With its Smooth TECH approach, investify TECH shows how things can be done differently.

We at investify TECH asked ourselves: “How can we get away from the endless IT and regulatory projects that everyone in the financial sector is familiar with and that nobody wants to do?” The answer is relatively simple and has been used in other industries for some time: Our platform approach is comparable to the automotive industry, where an assembly is developed once and then used at Porsche, for example, just as it is at VW or Audi – without any negative impact on image, pricing or brand.

Only a platform approach like this makes it possible for banks, insurance companies and asset managers to achieve digitalized asset management, for example, in a manageable period of time with a high level of execution security and with a small project team. This is also confirmed by Dr. Christian Jasperneite, CIO of private bank M.M. Warburg & CO, which switched to investify TECH in 2023, in an article for IT-Finanzmagazin: “From the first to the last day, we were always 100% on schedule – and it was pretty tight. I’ve rarely experienced that!”.

It is therefore no wonder that our platform approach has developed into the leading wealth management platform in German-speaking countries over the last few years.

More and more financial service providers are joining in – from small and medium-sized asset managers to private banks, public and cooperative institutions and large banking groups. And even a major ECB-regulated bank can be connected in just a few months. Andreas Falger, Head of Private Banking at International Bankhaus Bodensee, comments: “It’s not just the performance of the platform that is impressive, but also how quickly and easily investify TECH has made our bank fit for the future.”

The whole thing follows our maxim of division of labor: the bank or asset manager is responsible for asset management, advice and sales, which are their core competencies. As a specialized and state-regulated service provider, we take on the regulatory and technical issues and thus permanently relieve the asset manager – in the project and beyond. This reduces costs, makes them dynamic and protects the institutions operationally from critical head monopolies and staff shortages due to the growing shortage of specialists.

Our platform works invisibly in the background. Depending on the client’s wishes, it takes on various tasks from onboarding and legitimization via advisor and client portals including app, back office and regulation, wealth engine including portfolio management system, custodian bank connection and smart automated client reporting. The topic of sustainability is also fully covered.

It is always an exciting process to adapt our technology and regulatory platform to the DNA of a cooperation partner. Because every provider is unique, its DNA, the values of the company, the portfolios and the offering. This must also be reflected in the digital world, confirms Thorsten Schriever, CEO of DJE: “We are delighted to have gained an outstanding partner in the industry in investify TECH. Both companies stand for innovation. With our joint expertise, we will deliver efficient and forward-looking solutions for our partners.”

In this way, digitalization loses its terror and provides new customer groups and sales channels, facilitates regulatory issues and reduces internal processes.

Read article at Handelsblatt Live