Northern Trust Survey: Institutional Financial Services across Asia-Pacific; Pathways to Adopting Emerging Technologies

Nearly 60 percent of Australian-based institutional investors and asset managers expect meaningful adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies for institutional financial services within two years. Singapore and Hong Kong-based institutional investors and asset managers anticipate it happening in two to five years.

These are the latest findings from a survey of investment manager and institutional investor clients attending Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) events in its Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore offices during the first quarter of 2018.

Half the respondents at the events in Hong Kong and close to 40 percent in Singapore highlighted that greater clarity was required in understanding the regulatory landscape in order for the financial services industry to adopt blockchain technologies. Meanwhile, half those surveyed in Australia noted high level stakeholder engagement and counter-party cooperation as vital to financial services' adoption of blockchain.

'In Asia-Pacific we have seen regulatory changes either built within existing policy frameworks, or shifted, as the market landscape transforms. Amidst the fast-evolving financial market ecosystem and the growing importance of technological innovation, collaboration amongst financial institutions, technology enablers, regulators and governments is vital to supporting the efficiency, security and transparency emerging technology can bring,' said Caroline Higgins, head of Global Fund Services for Asia at Northern Trust.

At Northern Trust, the Market Advocacy and Innovation function drives interaction with key industry bodies, regulators and governments to positively influence market change in line with the organization's strategic direction, and to support industry challenges.

'As the financial services industry adopts AI, we expect to see a continuing transformation of the efficiency of operational services, the provision of increasingly insightful information and enhanced client experiences,' said Danielle Henderson, head of Market Advocacy & Innovation Research, Asia-Pacific at Northern Trust. 'Market developments may include machine learning capabilities for faster and deeper data consumption, advanced analytics for better decision making and natural language generation for automated report commentary.'

Northern Trust provides depositary, custody, fund administration, investment operations outsourcing, and regulatory solutions to investment managers worldwide and across the spectrum of asset classes. It invests in cutting-edge technologies and thoughtfully considers collaborations to create exceptional experiences, deliver leading capabilities and provide advanced asset security. In 2017, Northern Trust announced it had pioneered the use of blockchain technology launching the first commercial deployment of blockchain technology for the private equity market.

About Northern Trust
Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has offices in the United States in 19 states and Washington, D.C., and 23 international locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of March 31, 2018, Northern Trust had assets under custody/administration of US$10.8 trillion, and assets under management of US$1.2 trillion. For more than 125 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader for exceptional service, financial expertise, integrity and innovation. Visit northerntrust.com or follow us on Twitter @NorthernTrust.
Northern Trust Corporation, Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A., incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Global legal and regulatory information can be found at https://www.northerntrust.com/disclosures.