Tech Due Diligence in Financial Services Consolidation:
How to avoid the new deal-breaker and turn DD into an efficient roadmap that paves the way to growth
In today’s technology-driven market, the risk of overlooking the target firm’s technology infrastructure and savyness, is a direct path to inheriting crippling security liabilities, uncontrollable integration costs and debilitating technical debt.
Financial Services firms in North America are facing growing pressures from compressing fees, rising regulatory costs, and fierce competition both from local and international firms. This environment is driving increased market consolidation, as firms seek to achieve the critical mass necessary for survival and growth. Traditionally, due diligence exercises focused on the commercial advantages, talent pool, sound legal standing and healthy financial ratios, but the technology stack has increasingly become a decisive factor in greenlighting mergers and acquisitions and determining the price tag associated with those.
This article makes the case for partnering with a technology expert like Navirum to perform a deep and strategic due diligence to give peace of mind to companies exploring an acquisition and uncover hidden potential before, during and after the integration. Navirum’s Salesforce Financial Services cloud expertise can transform a standard risk assessment into a clear roadmap aiming for operational excellence and accelerated deployment. Read on to learn how to de-risk your next consolidation and maximize your growth ambitions.
The Imperative for Diligence in a Fast-Paced Environment
The investment management landscape groups participants in those big institutions offering many if not most services, and the boutique providers offering differentiation and personal touch to their clients. However, we have been witnessing an increased willingness from large firms to access differentiated and/or more profitable products and services. Traditionally, the most attractive path to access these differentiators is through acquisitions, in order to quickly integrate the new offerings and resources and drive growth.
Boutique asset managers, specialized hedge funds, and private capital allocators offer enticing potential for synergies and market differentiation resulting in more consolidation in the market. Moreover, reputable firms focusing on niche strategies are scrambling to meet new and enhanced regulatory requirements, highlighting the need for a bigger critical mass to keep operating efficiently.
However, these smaller, more agile firms can also come with potential pitfalls such as less-refined tech stacks, outdated systems and patchwork integrations that can present integration challenges and overspending, scalability limitations and significant security vulnerabilities.
What to look for when assessing the target firm’s tech stack
A sound technology due diligence must evaluate existing systems, their data workflows and interoperability across multiple teams and processes. Client, fund and transaction data ideally are already integrated and optimized for scale. If the potential acquisition has a growth ambition, then the existing systems should be able to handle 2x or 3x their current Assets Under Management (AUM).
Another area of focus is regulatory adherence in terms of data residency and privacy laws, considering the keen interest of both the public and regulators in cybersecurity risks and robots protocols for the future. Financial Services firms are more aware than ever about the reputational risks associated with data breaches. A reputable technology partner like Navirum helps you navigate the complexities of existing protocols and potential operational improvements.
A sound DD should not just flag gaps but also include an integration roadmap, with estimations of lead times and costs associated with achieving the acquisition goals. For this, the experience of your technology partner can be the deciding factor between lagging, meeting, or exceeding the expectations of the amalgamation.
The Advantages of Partnering with Navirum
When assessing the synergy potential and integration roadmap, a reputable technology partner like Navirum is essential for uncovering the additive or detracting value of the target firm’s tech stack. This valuable information effectively de-risk the transaction, stripping away unwanted surprises that may arise when an adequate DD is not performed.
Moreover, Navirum provides actionable recommendations aimed at boosting the ROI of your partnership. Our experience with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud provides us with an unmatched innovation mindset to enable firms to eliminate data silos and automate compliance workflows and client reporting, supporting efficient operations while driving down cost pressures.
In today’s landscape, a re-acquisition technology due diligence is a competitive necessity. It not only prevents bitter surprises down the road, but also steers the integration toward success. Navirum ensures that the technology due diligence is performed through the lens of modern, best-in-class technology platforms like Salesforce, providing the acquiring firm with a clear path to an efficient and scalable growth.
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