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How do you ensure that your work is in line with customer demand and is client-centric?

What does client-centric mean in today’s operation model? Does it mean being efficient, does it mean root-cause analysis, does it mean having honest - sometimes tough - conversations and that expectations on both sides need to be kept high? Or does it mean something else?

Looking at the full picture

The latest report, produced in partnership with Rimes, examines how insurers and asset managers are reshaping their technology, data, and operating models to deliver truly client-centric outcomes. Drawing on insights from leaders at Just Group, Scottish Widows, Loomis Sayles, and Rimes, it explores how firms are modernising processes, aligning culture and governance, and deploying smarter data strategies to meet rising client expectations in an increasingly complex investment environment.

The discussion highlights the growing role of advanced analytics, automation, and AI in simplifying workflows, enhancing data quality, and enabling scalable service models. It also investigates the practical challenges of managing both liquid and illiquid asset classes, navigating data silos, and balancing in-house versus outsourced solutions.

“I find that a lot of solutions are trying to fix a problem further downstream and not ask, 'Why does this problem exist?'”

In the discussion, the panellists, who came from disparate parts of the industry, shared their views on what made for good customer centricity.

One of the main aspects of the conversation centred on root cause analysis, as it often does when it comes to looking at operations and how that department interacts with other parts of
the business, particularly the investment team. “I have come from the approach of fixing things at source”, said Sunita Thornton, Head of Investment Operations Transformation, Just Group,
when asked, “What is the collective role of internal and outsourced stakeholders, as well as their individual roles, in achieving operational efficiencies?”.

“I find that a lot of solutions are trying to fix a problem further downstream and not ask, “Why does this problem exist?”.”

The question, Thornton said, is how you then create this mindset within your organisation. “In the last ten years that I worked at an asset owner, you don’t always feel like the client, as you have these outsourced providers and are paying them fees,” she said. “It can be hard work to get them to improve their processes and create efficiency.”

To read the report in full, click here.

 

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