Project Management White Paper
With the new regulatory requirements and increasing business complexity, the amount of change currently taking place in the financial industry is unprecedented. Project management skills have become a requirement in asset management operations, whether for implementing a regulatory requirement, taking on a new product, on-boarding a new client, or improving operational efficiencies while reducing risks. But many firms are taking the project management concept a step further, as they have realized that asset management firms can benefit more by creating a framework for a project management center of excellence (PMCoE). The Asset Managers Forum Project Management Working Group joined forces with Broadridge, to discuss this concept in a white paper titled “Managing Change in Asset Management”. Through this white paper we share insights to the drivers of change, the project management discipline itself, the maturity levels of project management, and real life case studies for the PMCoE.
Excerpt
Introduction
Amid unprecedented economic turmoil and regulatory change, most asset managers have had little time to bring the future into focus. But they should keep a watchful eye out as the industry faces up to a number of seismic shifts that will fundamentally shape its destiny. Several game-changing trends are driving this transformation of the landscape, according to PwC1:
• Asset management moves to center stage—reaching $100 trillion AuM by 2020
• Distribution is redrawn—regional and global platforms dominate
• Fee models are transformed
• Alternatives become more mainstream, passives are core and ETFs proliferate
• New breed of global managers
• Technology becomes mission-critical—asset management moves into the 21st Century
Most asset managers are struggling with this increasing business complexity and how best to introduce the changes needed to succeed in this new paradigm.
Against this backdrop, project management, once an esoteric and discretionary role supporting ad-hoc projects, will emerge as a core discipline for managing change. Establishing a Project Management Center of Excellence (PMCoE) will enable asset management firms to implement a new approach to managing change across their enterprise. Underpinned by a firm-wide change strategy, the PMCoE structurally re-engineers the entire approach from strategic leadership through project execution, and across initiatives, functions, and geographies. This paper explores how the PMCoE can bring strategic focus, operational excellence and business value to the organization. Aligned with the strategic priorities, leaders and project managers will gain “Expertise EquityTM”—a paradigm introduced by Broadridge in 2015—providing the skills to work across different business projects while institutionalizing a uniform framework and best practices for project management.