Profile Software eNewsletter Autumn 2014
Automate your Insurance investment management process end-to-end
Tight control of invested assets!
IMSplus is the ideal tool to effectively manage the whole process of invested assets in an Insurance Firm. Having been greatly upgraded with pioneering new features, the IMSplus platform allows for flexibility, reliability and cost effectiveness throughout. It is competitively positioned to automate all investment management operations with a special focus on performance and risk related issues, to generate investments’ accounting entries and to interface with existing accounting systems, market data providers and counterparties.
With IMSplus Insurance firms’ executives (CFO, Head of Investments, etc.) can easily perform valuation, P/L and performance measurement of the invested assets (equities, fixed income, funds, private equities, real estate, etc.), and ensure close monitoring and adherence with the company’s policies of the outsourced asset managers. The risk factor is seriously reduced via powerful exposure analysis and risk management tools, while securing compliance with regulatory requirements of investments and limits management processes.
The uniquely configured STP mechanism and automation capabilities allow accounting entries generation of the invested assets following local and / or IFRS standards, single or multi currency accounting, as well as simultaneous update of the core accounting system. This alone eliminates any manual error-prone entries, ensures peace of mind at all times and produces reports as and when needed with the most up to date data.
The Insurance Firm benefits from the quality and timely production of reports, compliance and risk mitigation provided while achieving efficiency and desired cost reduction. Furthermore, it experiences productivity increase and processes automation resulting to high return on investment.
IMSplus Insurance Investment Management has been selected by a number of well-known international and regional Insurance firms such as Ergo, Groupama, ING, Generali, Metlife and many more.
The alternative banking and finance models, are you ready?
Start-up banks and P2P/crowdfunding platforms focusing on client-centric service
The UK alternative banking sector is growing with new businesses entering and competing into this field. The FCA, appreciating the huge benefit for the consumer, is lowering the barriers to entry without jeopardising the credibility status. This was also unveiled in Profile Software’s recent event which aimed to bring together industry experts and authorities in exchanging ideas and case studies.
FCA’s regulatory approach published in a paper issued last April also recognised the developing Peer-to-Peer lending and crowdfunding trend as an important one, referring to the firms as “investment-based crowdfunding platforms”, “loan-based crowdfunding” and “peer-to-business lending platforms” depending on the type of service provided. It also sets the framework of operations in terms of reporting, CRM operations, security and flexible IT systems.
P2P Lending & Crowdfunding
The UK is the undisputable leader in the P2P sector with new, combined and diversified types of crowdfunding platforms being launched or having the potential thereof. These are facts presented by Peer-to-Peer Finance Association and Altfi but also the experience of Profile Software deriving from the number of enquiries being placed for a robust, flexible and easy to use crowdfunding system.
Alternative banking
In addition, the UK alternative banking sector is also gaining ground with more than 20 banks to have applied for authorisation to the FCA. Certainly some might be existing banks or established international banks entering the UK marketplace that want to diversify their offering. However, it is really encouraging for the industry that new “challenger” banks are making their appearance and those authorised moving to operational mode.
Profile Software deploys a new business expansion plan
Significant product/market developments and new hires!
Profile Software is a 25-year-old company, servicing over 200 clients in 18 countries with its proprietary, innovative and modular software solutions for the financial sector. Its products continuously receive international recognition by industry specific research organizations, as well as strong recommendations by its loyal clients.
The company is strategically focused on growing through international expansion. To this purpose, Profile Software has been heavily investing in both product, as well as business development.
Product development is targeted on serving a demanding and fast-changing sector, enabling industry professionals to generate more value from their investments, by utilizing our systems. It aims at establishing the technological superiority of FMS.next and IMSplus products, as well as generating further acceptance of Mobius Wealth, focusing on innovation, reliability, flexibility and customization. Some of the areas we are investing are wealth management, crowd-funding, p2p lending, mobile apps, cloud, develop business process outsourcing services, compliance, localization features, and overall upgrades of technology and products architecture.
Business development is targeted on expanding the international footprint, by strengthening our presence in the UK, in Switzerland, in Dubai and in Singapore, opening of new offices in Europe, expanding our international partners’ network, pursuing an assertive marketing approach for global recognition and upgrading business propositions to clients.
As an integral part of its business plan, Profile Software is also investing in its human resources by hiring Technical, Business and Sales employees across several countries. The company is looking for rising stars and forward thinking entry-level people as well as market and business experienced professionals that can generate real value to the business with innovative, fresh ideas that can think outside of the box!.
Profile Software in CELENT’s European Wealth Management Vendors Report
Celent, member of the Oliver-Wyman group a $1.3bn business, is a research and consulting firm focused on the application of information technology in the global financial services industry. In the study of European Wealth Management Technology Vendors, Profile Software was included among the comparison tables scoring high. "Wealth managers also face a demanding client base, new service channels, and growing competition. These challenges are driving firms to find ways to reduce costs by decreasing vendor relationships while increasing their technology investments. This report features a detailed profile for each vendor, identifying its strengths and weaknesses." [Celent]
Profile Software was evaluated in this report with its flagship system – IMSplus – a future-proof Wealth management platform that ranked in a high position for its key front to back office features, especially for its rich and scalable functionality capabilities.
“Differentiation and flexibility will be critical to those vendors operating in the wealth management industry due to market competitiveness,” says Ashley Globerman, Analyst with Celent’s Securities & Investments Group and author of the report.
Profile Software has been distinguished for its excellence in Wealth Management deliverables
Building upon the success of its leading mobile and investment management platforms, Profile Software was nominated for and recognized with the following awards and industry reports:
- Global Banking and Finance Review: Profile Software was recognised with the “Best Wealth Management Software Provider - Europe 2014”, Award.
- Private Banker International: The Company was shortlisted for the Global Wealth Award 2014 by the Private Banker International for the categories of “Outstanding Wealth Management Technology Provider - Front Office Product Suite” and “Outstanding Wealth Management Technology Provider - Most Effective Integrated Solution”.
- Bobsguide Awards: IMSplus has been shortlisted for the Asset Management solution, under the same category.
Furthermore, the company and its leading product, IMSplus, for Independent Wealth Managers has been included in Aite Group's latest report for the sector, focusing on the need for data consolidation, reporting and integration to effectively meet the increasing challenges of the industry.
Mobius Wealth with further enhanced features
Mobius Wealth Profile Software’s innovative, back-end independent solution for mobile devices and targeted at the wealth management industry, is offering a best-of-breed approach that adds real value to Wealth Managers by using state-of-the-art technology and advanced software architecture.
Mobius Wealth compiles data from any back-end system* into a comprehensive and elegant presentation layer for mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). In its latest version, Mobius Wealth has become available for both iOS (as a universal app) and Android. Leveraging Profile Software’s Mobility platform, Mobius Wealth has been enriched to operate in either real-time, online mode or using previous end-of-day data. Financial services organisations can simply connect their existing infrastructure to Profile Software’s Mobility Platform, create the necessary Mobius Wealth users and enjoy quick time to market, extreme flexibility, and minimal investment cost. Other new features include the ability to personalise the interface and the updated dashboard with more available widgets. Mobius Wealth is offered as a white label product to brand it as your own!
It fully interacts with any Wealth Management system delivering a reliable and personalized digital experience of real-time Portfolio Management & Advisory Tools, a Dashboard, Portfolio Holdings and Analytics, Monitoring, Market Watch-list, Trading, Document Distribution, Viewing, and Notifications. The mobile application can also be branded with the firm’s own logos (white-labelled) or messages to meet country specific requirements and to also provide a truly personalised customer approach and marketing channel.
The use of mobile apps empowers Investment Management firms to increase their Relationship Managers' / Independent Asset Managers' productivity by allowing their clients and executives to get updated and monitor portfolios holdings, valuations, profitability, performance and more, using their mobile devices on-the-go. The Mobius Wealth architecture follows the highest security standards (including geo-fencing and lock-on-shake, among others), allows easy customisation, and ensures availability of information anywhere at any time. The Mobius Wealth flexible pricing models are designed to meet the business requirements and growth needs of investment management firms of any size based on usage and number of users.
(*)Investment management, wealth management, market data vendor, trading platform, etc.
Profile Software expands its partners’ network!
Enhancing its international partners’ network expansion, Profile Software, has commenced representation agreements with 10 solution integrators in Europe, Asia and the Middle East to represent its leading solutions: IMSplus, FMS.next and Mobius Wealth. This new approach enables us to provide timely local support to potential and existing clients whilst expanding our operations internationally with the expertise and experience of a local leading IT company for the banking and investment management domains.
Moreover, Profile Software is currently deploying an International Partners Program aiming to develop partnerships with established local IT firms in the countries that does not have a presence yet. Profile Software is supporting these actions with tailored training and opportunity assessment programmes. It presents a great opportunity for IT companies that either operate in or would like to enter the financial services sector, to benefit from Profile Software’s value proposition and address new business opportunities in their respective markets.
