Introduction
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Across the Canadian investment management lifecycle, organizations are struggling to get data right. While data has long been discussed as a strategic priority, few have managed to put that ambition into practice—and many are realizing their data strategies are not fit for purpose. The investment industry relies on clean, trusted data to support every aspect of the investment process. As a result, consequences are compounding as firms face heightened expectations from stakeholders, regulators and clients alike.
Where is the data gap — and opportunity?
Drawing on exclusive insights from a market-wide survey conducted by RBC Investor Services and the ValueExchange and extensive interviews with industry leaders, this report looks to explain what data means for Canadian investment managers and owners. From data access and architecture to accountability and ownership, we lay out what’s holding firms back and what forward-looking leaders are doing to move ahead.
These insights are key as the ability to get data right is fast becoming the new baseline for operational resilience and strategic growth.
From the survey responses, it’s clear that many firms’ data flows have room for improvement:
36% claim that their levels of operational efficiency are “low” or “very low” and need attention—with 15% needing urgent attention.
More than a quarter of asset owners (like pension funds and insurance companies) say they face urgent operational challenges that require transformation—yet too often, their efforts focus on short-term fixes rather than addressing the root problem: fragmented, under-governed data environments that can’t keep pace with business needs.
Data residency is also seen as a top change driver for asset owners and managers—and increasingly, client agreements are insisting that all data remains within Canadian borders.
The role of data is foundational to the success and failure of the entire investment process. Trusted data is essential for firms to generate insights to support decision making, improve oversight and enhance portfolio performance. Seamless and frictionless data flows are an enabler to portfolio beta and alpha—and a weakness if not managed correctly.
But the key question is where and how to start. It’s important to diagnose where organizations underperform so the right actions can be taken to prepare Canada’s trade processing for decades to come.
As guardians of clients’ highly valuable portfolio data—the new gold—RBC Investor Services is leveraging RBC’s vast technology resources to enable data for clients as part of our robust data and digital capabilities. We are looking at clients’ assets through a data lens and are creating a trusted, single source of truth to support our clients’ needs. Whether it’s asset managers, asset owners, insurance companies or investment counsellors, clients rely on RBC Investor Services to deliver quality data—part of trusted datasets that are commonly referred to as ABOR (accounting book of record), IBOR (investment book of record) and CBOR (custody book of record).
“Our clients don’t just want data. They want decisions they can trust, powered by data they can rely on.”
Christine Knott
Head, Data, Digital & Client Solutions
Your partner today and tomorrow
For more than 125 years, RBC Investor Services has delivered asset servicing solutions to Canadian asset managers and asset owners, investment counsellors and other financial institutions. Part of Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest bank and one of the top 10 globally based on market capitalization, 1our focus is on safeguarding the assets of our clients and supporting their growth.
1Based on market capitalization as at October 31, 2024
