Despite cost constraints across the investment management industry and the perceived lack of successful CRM implementations in financial services, CRM remains a top priority for investment management firms. The more competitive environment, lower profit margins, the race to cross-sell and gather assets, as well as the unending search for the CRM Holy Grail are driving this prioritization.
Additional Information
Highlights
CIOs at investment management firms cite CRM as one of their top information technology initiatives for 2003. CRM applications are central to providing the technology and process infrastructure for targeting existing and potential relationships and prioritizing the effort to be applied to each.
The CRM needs of any distributor depend on its size, product suite (mutual funds only or also managed accounts, defined contribution plans, variable annuities, 529 plans, etc.), its relationship with the third parties that distribute its products (i.e., captive vs. noncaptive; supermarket vs. wirehouse, bank or independents), and its overall distribution strategy.
Aggregating sales data and providing contact histories remain the price of entry for CRM vendors. Vendor competition and functional differentiation is now occurring in two key areas, namely ease of use, and accessibility and management of complex relationships. Competition is emerging in the areas of analytics and sales compensation functionality.
CRM media hype has focused on the cost, failures, and negative ROI associated with implementations. Regardless of whether the issue is one of technology, definitional scope, business "buy-in," or implementation, it has resulted in a backlash against "CRM platforms" and interest in modular or targeted industry solutions.
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