A growing number of fund administrators are looking to digitalise and optimise administrative tasks in an effort to reduce costs and increase efficiencies; TMF Group has started introducing automation and artificial intelligence. It will help managers automate their processes and scale up their business more easily.

Process optimisation and digitalisation is at the top of the agenda for many financial services companies in Luxembourg. By automating repetitive tasks and integrating them into internal processes, the benefits of reduced costs and more time to provide meaningful, added-value interactions with clients, are obvious.

Fund administrators like TMF Group, a leading global professional services provider, are focused on making automated services a central pillar to their service offering.

The company has started introducing the use of automation and artificial intelligence in the client onboarding process. They are expecting this to enhance the decision-making process and provide clients greater access to information and data through online portals and digital tools which are being implemented. These cover areas such as workflow management, GP portal, market leading compliance technology, automated financial statements production and intelligent depositary software.

“Clients are only willing to pay for a service that provides added value,” says Patrick van Denzen, Managing Director at TMF Luxembourg. “Investing in digitalisation is no longer a nice-to-have, but essential to surivive in the current market environment.”

The automation of administrative tasks is especially important for large companies operating across multiple jurisdictions, as it enables them to scale up their business in a cost-efficient manner. TMF Group’s global reach, with 120 offices operating in over 80 jurisdictions around the world, means it is well-positioned to deliver services to fund managers as well as multinationals.

Investing in digitalisation is no longer a nice-to-have, but essential to surivive in the current market environment, says Patrick van Denzen, Managing Director at TMF Luxembourg

But while automation and digitalisation will continue to play an important role in the industry, Patrick van Denzen also emphasises that clients still value the personal relationships and local knowledge. “People appreciate picking up the phone and speaking to a human with expert knowledge, instead of only interacting with chatbots, which can be useful for preliminary information. I don’t think that will change anytime soon. Our client proximity obviously helps in this respect,” he says.

In addition to investing in digital technology, TMF Group’s recent acquisition of Selectra Management Company has been an important milestone for the group and a strong testament of the company’s desire to grow their fund services offering.“Our acquisition of Selectra was the final piece of the puzzle. It means we can now offer fund clients in Luxembourg the full set of value-added services,” says Patrick van Denzen.

Luxembourg’s high level of competence in fund services, as well as compliance and regulatory environment, makes it prime for a state-of-the-art fund domicile, says Marco Cipolla, Managing Director at Selectra

The acquisition of Selectra comes at a time when Luxembourg regulators are looking to streamline reporting and compliance requirements. The CSSF’s Circular 18/698, published in 2018, set out specific provisions that will require UCITS management companies and alternative investment fund managers to beef up their governance, central administration and internal controls.

Marco Cipolla, managing director at Selectra, says despite the fund industry’s migration from a less regulated to a more regulated environment, Luxembourg remains a popular destination for fund distributors. “Luxembourg’s high level of competence in fund services, as well as compliance and regulatory environment, makes it prime for a state-of-the-art fund domicile,” he says.