Technology spending will continue to rise among Asian financial institutions according to risk management and trading software provider, Misys.

The firm recently hosted the Misys Southern Asia Market Forum 2013, which brought together over 100 representatives from 40 of the region’s leading financial institutions.

The high growth technology spending of financial institutions in Asia; accessible banking platforms such as mobile and social channels; and turning regulatory pressure to a bank’s advantage were among key discussions at the forum.

According to Michael Yeo, market analyst, IDF Financial Insights Asia Pacific, IT spending of financial institutions was up 4 per cent worldwide in 2012. In Asia Pacific, this figure was 7 per cent, notably in the areas of core banking, risk management and CRM, Misys said in a statement released this week.

“Yeo predicts it will increase to 8.8 per cent in 2013. The rise in high tech spending is evident in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines,” the UK-headquartered firm added.

Wealth management

“We are seeing a growing interest in our solutions from the wealth management sector in Asia; this is partly due to the increasingly sophisticated and competitive services they need to offer their clients,” said Didier Giesen, sales director buy-side for Southeast Asia.

“The definition of a wealth manager has also expanded slightly to include family offices that now provide managed accounts services or pension plan providers that offer tailor-made services for their clientele. This means they are increasingly looking for software platforms which enable them to operate the most up-to-date and relevant wealth management services,”  he continued.

Future

In 2013, there will be an uptake of forecasting and predictive modelling; as well as mobile channels, which in Asia are likely to be driven by wealth management firms, according to Yeo. 

In the next two years, regulatory compliance software is likely to account for a large part of financial institutions’ IT investment spending. Countries in Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, are starting to converge on how they deal with regulatory demands.

Due to the increasing number of compliance regulations and their growing complexity, enterprise risk management departments are now receiving funding more easily for their risk management software. According to Misys, it is becoming clear that financial institutions consider collaborative risk management solutions a key component of their risk technology environment. 

Single solution

“We are seeing more wealth and asset managers look for a single solution which offers a range of functionalities catering to rapid changes in the marketplace,” Giesen said.

“They also prefer to use one software provider rather than using platforms from multiple vendors so they can minimise overall spending and take advantage of comprehensive technology support from one provider,” he continued. 

Misys operates 17 offices in Asia, including three development centres and two recently opened offices in the Philippines and Vietnam. Approximately a third of the firm’s new clients signed in the past year are Asia-based.