Considering Trends and Milestones

The holidays and the end of the year mark a milestone, although it's not always the most accurate marker or method for looking at trends and the progress of developments in an industry. Nonetheless, as we consider what may affect data management most in 2014, one aspect of the structure of institutional financial services is worth thinking about.

Meeting recently with business development executives from one data software and services provider that is engaged in the reference data space, I heard a prediction that high-net-worth investors would look more like established institutions in the future.

With such a development, the data management tools that are useful for these individual investors would change. They will want platforms that can focus on assets denominated in a single currency (most frequently US dollars).

Aside from the high-net-worth field, this provider's executives also believe the industry is starting to see that small tactical data management solutions are not as effective as they once were. This is because the use of multiple tactical solutions isn't cost-effective or well-organized.

However, the good news in 2014 may be that long-term strategic data management planning may catch on again, and no longer will be seen as a costly taboo. As we mark the end of 2013 and then each succeeding quarter of the next year, it may serve us well to see if these trends and expectations come true.