Shared digital platforms and infrastructure will reshape the industry.
COLLABORATE OR FALL BEHIND
Against this backdrop, custodians and service providers will need to collaborate as members of a shared digital ecosystem. We believe custodians and other industry actors will start working together on platforms, or on shared infrastructure, to leverage market positions, and to mutualise costs and create new revenue streams by partnership. We see this in the consortiums and collaborations that are already taking place. Collaboration will also mean working with a broader, more diverse, and cognitively disparate workforce.
Meanwhile, standardised processes such as corporate action events and proxy voting will become more commoditised, and less competitive over time. Instead, custodians will compete on how successfully they are able to help their clients, in terms of ease of use, timeliness, and service provision.
But no matter how advanced technology becomes, custodians and repositories will always have to demonstrate that they are a trusted and stable provider. They are, first and foremost, there to protect their clients’ assets, and any evolution will need to be client-centric, with industry players putting clients at the heart of everything they do. In 2030, more time will be spent giving clients information on what they need to know, and enabling them to make decisions.