In today’s fast-paced industry, keeping up with changes isn’t merely advantageous—it’s essential. In our upcoming blog series, our team of experts will offer practical advice and strategies to help you tackle the challenges and seize the opportunities that are reshaping your business landscape. In this edition, we’re chatting with Vivian Zou, the Senior Sales Director at SS&C GlobeOp, for her insights on the enticing investment scene in the APAC region.
Vivian, who joined SS&C in 2023 and is based in Hong Kong, has over ten years of expertise in fund administration. She is focused on expanding SS&C’s reach across the APAC region, particularly in the realms of private markets, asset managers, allocators, and institutional investors.
When asked about the most significant challenges in 2024, Vivian pointed out the ongoing consolidation within private markets and among asset managers—a hallmark of a maturing market. This trend inevitably presents challenges, but it’s one that SS&C is poised to support, given our solutions are geared to aid companies in scaling up—a widespread occurrence across the industry.
Here at SS&C, while facing daily hurdles, in 2024, our primary focus remained on tailoring our services to fit the diverse markets within APAC. With a global platform offering a wide range of products, solutions, and tools, we have been diligently ensuring they meet our clients’ specific needs across regions like Japan, Korea, Singapore, China, and Australia. We strive to establish genuine partnerships, becoming embedded within our clients’ operations—so their challenges become ours, and we’re committed to solving them.
Turning to the top opportunities of 2024, our keen interest lies with asset managers ready to scale up but needing guidance on modernizing their operations. We’ve assisted thousands of them, delivering modern solutions that align with their business goals. Next, we see promise in the complex world of private credit managers, where there’s heightened demand for seamless data connectivity from assets to holding companies. Our expertise and resources can very much facilitate this data flow, marking a significant opportunity.
Lastly, we’re honing in on asset allocators. With the challenges of operating across varied investment classes, offering a comprehensive view of performance is critical and complex. We provide bespoke, high-quality solutions that excel in this domain. Our proven technology and products, combined with a consultative approach, have been delivering exceptional results for nearly 40 years, and we’re excited to extend this to more clients and regions within APAC.
When discussing our role in maximizing client investments, the conversation naturally turns to technology. Many in the financial markets are realizing that tech solutions are only as effective as the data they utilize. Much of our client work involves SS&C Concierge consultation, emphasizing that while we have impressive technology, it isn’t the catch-all solution. We start by immersing ourselves in our clients’ systems, crafting a tailored development roadmap that merges data, tech, processes, and expertise to effect meaningful change. Initially engaging stakeholders can be challenging, but as they witness the automation and efficiency gains, their enthusiasm grows.
Clients often possess crucial databanks for modernization, albeit from a single perspective. We combine this with our proprietary and market data, refine it, and reintegrate it back into their operations. It’s this diverse data application that differentiates our technological solutions.
Looking forward to where fund managers in APAC can capitalize, Vivian noted the maturation of the market brings new prospects. There’s a trend toward fund managers adopting distinctive strategies and diving deep—an approach yielding more successful specialists versus generalists. The APAC region’s diversity, unlike the more uniform US or European markets, creates unique opportunities due to its variety of cultures and operational methods. This makes for an engaging workplace where possibilities abound.
Our large, international team bridges technology with the distinct APAC markets. While our tech is globally adaptable, our team’s linguistic skills and local market knowledge create a vital connection, further strengthened by our global scale and localized insights.
To dive deeper, check out our blogs on winding down funds or strategies for emerging APAC fund managers for more from Vivian Zou. Stay tuned for more interviews featuring insights from SS&C experts.
