Cloud-based applications, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), offer significant benefits. They are highly affordable, require minimal IT involvement, have no hardware requirements, and offer great flexibility. Yet there can be significant risks to a firm if it does not review vendors carefully. Unfortunately, security controls vary significantly from one SaaS provider to the next. Knowing what to look for when selecting SaaS vendors and implementing sound security measures will help protect your firm against a data breach and the significant repercussions that come with it.
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Business impersonation scams are a large and growing risk for high-net-worth individuals, closely held business owners, and institutions. Scams have claimed victims in all 50 states and more than 100 countries and there is every reason to believe the threat is growing. Learn seven steps that can help you protect yourself and your business from impersonation and other types of fraud.
The holidays are approaching and to make it a more relaxed and enjoyable season, it helps to plan in advance and know the best practices for holiday planning, entertaining, gift giving, entertaining, and decorating.
Purchasing a wealth management technology solution is a significant business decision for your firm. You have likely been tasked with sourcing a platform that meets the needs of your principals, your team and your stakeholders. The solution should support your internal accounting, investment management and reporting functions while streamlining your firm’s day-to-day operations. As an executive, where should you begin? To assist you in the research, there are more than 50 questions to help guide through the process of finding the right solution for your firm.
When former First Lady Nancy Reagan passed away in March 2016, millions of Americans mourned the loss. While the events honoring Mrs. Reagan unfurled seamlessly, a dedicated team was hard at work behind the scenes to ensure the funeral was being conducted to Mrs. Reagan’s expressed desires. The preparations and demands of the funeral may seem extreme, but many of Mrs. Reagan's concerns apply to other families of wealth and should be addressed.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an acceleration of adoption of cloud solutions and other remote access tools. However, hasty adoption of any new technology that is not combined with robust security frameworks, policies, and controls can leave businesses vulnerable. A formal vendor management process and having specific controls in place can mean the difference between a cloud solution being a huge advantage to agile solutions or leaving the business open to attacks and unauthorized access.
Uber rethought and deconstructed the traditional value chain in its industry to create a new technology-enabled business model centered on enlisting the capabilities, assets, or knowledge of others. It was the Uberization that pointed toward a new way of creating value and gaining scale, showing its potential for asset managers who are looking past their institutional blinders and carefully observing their environment and weighing alternative ways of doing business.
Artificial intelligence is quickly transitioning from curiosity to critical cog in efforts to monetize data and power applications from front to back office. Given asset management’s reliance on efficient data processing, rapid decision making, and accurate reporting, there are myriad ways machine intelligence can have an impact.
Data-smart companies are learning how to access, aggregate, and distill competitive knowledge from a vast sea of previously inaccessible information. While there will be asset managers who resist the data adoption or take a wait-and-see attitude, the firms that enthusiastically embrace a data-centric strategy can expect to be rewarded with unanticipated competitive advantages.
Online platforms are reshaping business dynamics, putting customers in charge and forever altering the customer experience. As Asset Managers weigh the critical decision of whether and how to embrace disruptive technologies and business models (which may not be profitable for some time, could undercut current product lines, and may not succeed at all), some lessons can be learned from Amazon’s journey.