(Finance) – From the point of view of markets and investment strategies, “all recent years have been complex, and above all different. I believe that the fundamental theme is reading the customer’s needs and the speed of interacting and finding solutions, therefore it is not so much a product issue but an operating model issue. From our point of view, we have an internal factory and an investment center that is very quick in reading the market situation and intercepting customer needs. And an integration and closeness with the factories that assist us to immediately implement effective and fast solutions in the extremely changeable market context.” He told Finance Grazia OrlandiniChief Investment Officer of BPER Bankon the sidelines of the annual congress of Assiom Forex, the association of financial market operators, underway in Genoa.
“In 2023 the need was a certainty of investments, while we will face 2024 in this new scenario that is emerging, where it is expected a decline in interest rates and a gradual return to normality“, he explained. “Interest rates have reached a plateau, and from this point of view we will gradually see a return to normality also in investments, after the search for certainty and returns we will have to face this new market where – with the achievement of of the rate plateau – the customers will reapproach more traditional solutions“, he added.
According to Orlandini, “the dispersion of economic growth will generate greater diversification of financial assets and this is another interesting aspect towards the normalization of the asset management market. There is no doubt that there are further particularly important latent trends: on the one hand the consolidation, after an euphoria, of sustainability and ESG theme, also a certain consolidation because we have gone from euphoria to extreme difficulty in reading sustainability; and last but not least the theme ofartificial intelligencethat is, proximity to the customer and the use of information to be closer.”
“These trends intersect with each other, so it gives the market more diversification, more traditional products and also more personalized asset allocation solutions for strategic customers – he explained – this is clearly also made possible by the use of artificial intelligence which then allows us to make customizations for the client: from the fact that all clients have a certain risk profile to finding exactly a portfolio for my client’s needs, a single person with specific needs”.
According to the Chief Investment Officer of BPER Banca, “there is no doubt that artificial intelligence, and technology in general, has always evolved over time. And clearly when there is a change in paradigm or model it can create a difficulty in reading; embracing change will allow us to find more effective, more efficient and faster solutions“.
“Furthermore, data analysis, proximity, process automation will essentially allow for a higher customer care, experience and level of service for the customer, and also cost benefits for the bank“, he added.
(Photo: Giovanni Ricciardi)