AI & Machine Learning Expected to Have Biggest Impact on Investment Marketing [Report]

LONDON, Oct. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AI and Machine Learning is expected to have the biggest impact on investment marketing in the near future, research by enterprise content management company Kurtosys has shown. 

In the 2018 edition of its annual Asset Management Digital Marketing Survey, 43% of respondents stated that AI and machine learning would have the most significant impact on the industry moving forward, followed by behavioural targeting (30%) and big data (21%). 

These statistics point to the growing importance of technology in the financial marketing space. 

"With the ever-present pressure on asset managers to perform amongst a competitive landscape; coupled with a need to improve sales enablement, marketers need to make critical choices when it comes to technology. The requirement for digital transformation long since accepted, it's now a focus on which tools and strategies will become the most effective," comments Luke Hinchliffe, Kurtosys Head of Digital Marketing. 

Amongst other topics, the survey also looked at the impact of regulatory change on the industry. This year has been throwing more curveballs at the industry than ever before, as the implementation dates for regulations such as The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) and GDPR rolled around. 

Last year's survey found that many asset managers (48%) thought regulation to be the most disruptive factor to the industry within the coming years. That figure dropped to 22% this year. However, over three-quarters of those surveyed believe that regulation is making financial marketing more difficult, despite 93% believing that their company is fully compliant with GDPR. 

The results gained for the report were from 200 respondents, with 72% from marketing positions, with others working in Sales, Client Services, Operations, and IT.

Key findings of the survey include: 

• Personalisation & Targeting (62%) and Data-Driven Marketing (45%) will be key focus areas over the next 12 months, with a growing number (44%) of asset managers using third-party software to tailor specific content to certain audiences. 
   
  
• The state of digital maturity industry-wide is still in the "developing" stage, with over half of the respondents defining their adoption of digital marketing as such. Even in 2018, 35% of those surveyed still feel that their digital adoption is only "basic."
   
  
• The most disruptive force to asset management is now believed to be fintechs at 29%. This is opposed to last year's finding that regulation was the major concern.
   
  
• Websites are still a popular form of investment, with 59% of marketers planning to spend more on their website development in the next year. Positively, a mere 3% were not planning to advance their digital offering at all. 
   
  
• Content marketing is still the clear winner for continued investment, with two-thirds of marketers intending to increase their spend. 
   
  
• AI and Machine Learning is considered to have the most impact on the future of financial marketing, with almost half of the respondents citing these new technologies as the hottest topics for the coming years. Wealth Management firms are adopting AI for compliance and KYC processes, as SaaS platforms in the FinServ industry are beginning to utilise machine learning to benefit the storing and handling of financial data, particularly for marketing purposes.

Read the full survey report here. 

About Kurtosys

Kurtosys provides an Enterprise Content Management system for financial services firms. The Kurtosys platform enables marketing, sales, and client service departments to orchestrate all of their financial data, documents, websites and content in a secure environment, maximising distribution and sales enablement.

Founded in 2002, Kurtosys was funded from Silicon Valley investment and operates across three offices in the US, UK, and South Africa, employing over 200 people. They work with some of the world's largest financial brands that include banks, wealth managers, mutual fund providers, and alternative investments.

Media Enquiries

Luke Hinchliffe, Head of Digital Marketing, [email protected] 

SOURCE Kurtosys Systems