In contrast to the (mistaken) investor assumption that markets would react to an attack on Iran in a manner similar to how they did after the 12-day war last year, equity markets have instead moved more like they did following the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1990.

This is a worrisome parallel insofar as global equities ultimately declined by 18% over the two months following the start of that conflict before bottoming out. Oil prices rose by 85% over the same period.

The reason for the extended decline in 1990 was that it coincided with a US recession, which was itself partly triggered by the oil shock. In addition, policy rates were high (the fed funds rate was at 8%) and the savings and loan crisis had triggered a credit crunch. Today, the US economy is in a far better position, even if the most recent revision to fourth quarter GDP data shows growth has slowed sharply from the previous two quarters.

While returns from the oil-sensitive parts of the US equity market (as measured by the Dow Jones US Industrials Index) have been similar to those in 1990, the technology sector has performed much better, contributing to superior returns for the S&P 500 (see Exhibit 1). It is worth nothing that the decrease in equity markets in 1990 mirrored the increase in oil prices. If we see a stabilisation in oil prices today around $100 per barrel, equity markets may also stabilise.

This dynamic points to a key factor in recent market returns that may have been missed given headlines focusing on the daily swings in oil prices and the consequent moves in equity markets.

A major factor driving recent equity returns has been the unwinding of extended long and short positions that had built up during February, many of them related to the volatility in artificial intelligence-linked sectors (see Exhibit 2).

For example, the industry contributing the most to the 4.2% decline in the MSCI All Country World Index (in local currency terms since 27 February 2026) has been financials, driven at least partly by ongoing worries about private credit. The fall in capital goods reflects higher oil prices and worries about global growth, but not the drop in technology hardware and semiconductor stocks, which had gained significantly in February.

The negative figure for metals and mining mirrors the drop in gold and silver prices (also previously big winners). On the plus side of the ledger, energy stocks have naturally done well, but the gain in software stocks is another example of the reversal in February’s sector returns.

The implications of this for investors are twofold. One should potentially have a list of allocations linked to oil prices to make once the Iran war ends, anticipating a reversal of the winners and losers to that point.

But equally, one also needs to maintain a view on AI-related sectors and evaluate their attractiveness based on the earnings outlook and valuations at that time, with the advantage that positioning by then should hopefully be less extreme with market prices therefore less susceptible to big swings.

By Daniel Morris, Chief Market Strategist

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Chris Iggo

Jobs and business models are at risk from artificial intelligence disruption. That is spooking markets as it is difficult to put a valuation on companies that could be vulnerable to the onset of AI. At the same time, huge amounts of money continue to be spent on data centres and computing power. As such, the technology trade has become more nuanced – for one thing, it has increasingly become a bond trade as well as an equity one, as bond investors are being called on to finance the AI boom.

• Key macro themes – Jobs data is likely to keep the Federal Reserve on hold
• Key market themes – Technology is not as sure a bet; AI is creating winners and losers

Disrupt and maybe destroy

AI is hyper-charged creative destruction. It is a technology upending economic relationships and businesses. It is disruptive and markets are seeing the implications of that in real time. As of close of business on 12 February, the S&P 500 Software and Services Industry sector was down 19.7% year-to-date and 27% since the broader Information Technology sector peaked on 29 October. In the bond market, over the same period, the US High Yield Technology sub-index has seen spreads widen by 135 basis points. Individual equities and bonds have taken bigger hits. However, in their quarterly earnings announcements, the hyperscalers (cloud computing giants) increased capital spending plans once again, while semiconductor manufacturers have reported huge increases in revenue. Despite wobbles elsewhere, the S&P 500’s semiconductor index is up 4.5% this year.

Culling the coders

The AI-enabling theme is very strong. Huge commitments to develop data centres, cloud computing capabilities and large language models are generating massive revenues for companies involved in creating the infrastructure. Goldman Sachs publishes an equity index called AI Data Centers and Electrical Equipment and that index is up 26.7% this year, and more than 100% compared to a year ago. Nonetheless, companies at risk of disruption are in an existential panic. If more powerful AI agents can perform marketing, accounting, legal and human resource management tasks quicker and cheaper than existing Software as a Service (SaaS) incumbents, then users win from lower costs and productivity gains, while suppliers see their revenues undercut. This was certainly the theme of the last couple of weeks. AI adoption will be good for margins for some, and disastrous for revenues (and share prices) for others.

However, as always, the story is more nuanced. Enterprise AI adoption is still relatively limited across the broader economy, and its growth has not been as fast as some had hoped. It takes time to replace enterprise software when it is embedded in the corporate structure. There are opportunities for big software providers to respond to AI competition by incorporating more AI value-added services into their own software applications. Customer service and business models are often based on legacy frameworks, and as such, AI agents cannot simply barge in and totally replace existing workflow management. It’s going to be interesting. But growth expectations and software companies’ valuations have been rightly challenged. This story has more to run and could end up undercutting broad US equity returns. The story in 2026 has been one of US index underperformance, with Asian markets delivering the strongest price gains.

More tech bonds

AI is disruptive in other ways. The hyperscalers have ramped up their corporate bond issuance to finance capital spending plans. The money being raised is sizeable. Two deals in the US corporate bond market raised $25 billion and $20 billion in the last week or so. The technology sector is rapidly becoming the source of the biggest corporate bond issuers. They are highly rated; they need to borrow and there is demand.

Corporate bond investors are going from generally funding highly regulated businesses like banks and utilities, to funding growth companies in a technology which is still new, and which might not deliver the revenues needed to make the current levels of spending viable.  In the short term this is unlikely to be a problem as borrowers have strong balance sheets and recent deals provide new opportunities for income-focused bond investors. For sterling investors, starved of issuance in recent years, the 100-year maturity bond from Alphabet, representing an additional 1% of long duration credit assets in the market, was a welcome source of coupon payments (6.125%).

In the US market, the spread on the ICE BofATechnology and Electronics bond index above US Treasuries has risen to match the overall market spread after being tighter for the last decade.

Disrupting jobs

Another area of disruption is employment. If AI can do things quicker than humans, and carry out tasks too complex for the human brain, then why employ a person and not a machine? The extent to which this is happening today is hard to assess. In the asset management world, reporting on portfolio performance – an extremely important service offered to clients – might mostly be done by machines.

The cyclical position does not point to near-term Fed rate cuts

Overall US jobs growth has been weak. Both official and household surveys of employment show flat growth compared to a year ago. Despite this, the January employment report was better than expected. The number of non-farm payroll jobs increased by 130,000 compared to a revised 48,000 in December and a market consensus expectation of 65,000. The unemployment rate also fell to 4.3% from 4.4%. The Fed’s three rate cuts last year were based on policy having proven too restrictive and a rising unemployment rate (it was 4.0% in January 2025). However, in January the unemployment rate fell to just below the estimate of the natural rate of unemployment (i.e. the unemployment rate estimated to be consistent with a stable inflation rate). There is a scenario in which the Fed could remain on hold for some time which may see market yields resume the upward trend they were in between October and December last year.

By Chris Iggo, Chief Investment Officer for AXA IM Core Investments at BNP Paribas Asset Management

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Performance data/data sources: LSEG Workspace DataStream, ICE Data Services, Bloomberg, BNP Paribas AM, as of 12 February 2026, unless otherwise stated). Past performance should not be seen as a guide to future returns.

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Mr Parrot is currently Head of Global Markets for Asia Pacific and a member of the Asia Pacific Executive Committee. He brings over 25 years of global financial markets experience, including more than a decade in the Asia Pacific region.

In his new role, Mr Parrot will be responsible for overseeing BNP Paribas’ business strategy and operations across Australia and New Zealand. He will continue to drive the bank’s focus on sustainable finance, innovation, and client engagement.

BNP Paribas’ Asia Pacific Head, Paul Yang, welcomed the appointment: “Nicolas is a seasoned leader with strong regional expertise and a deep understanding of our clients’ evolving needs. He is well-positioned to build on our strong foundations and continue delivering long-term value in Australia and New Zealand.”

Mr Parrot said: “I am honoured to take on this role and look forward to working with our talented teams to support our clients and contribute to the continued growth of BNP Paribas in the region.”

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Ashley Wilson, Global Head of Prime Services at BNP Paribas, said: “The hedge fund outlook for 2022 is optimistic with the average allocator in our survey looking to add almost a quarter of a billion dollars to hedge funds. We at BNP Paribas have built a world-class multi-asset prime services platform that is well-positioned to support this growth and achieve our ambition in becoming the largest European Prime Broker to global hedge funds. We are pleased to present these findings and grateful to all investor participants, clients and colleagues for their continued support.”

Marlin Naidoo, Global Head of Capital Introduction at BNP Paribas, said: “With rising rates and geopolitical uncertainty, our report shows that investors are increasing their allocations to low beta hedge funds that can achieve high single-digit returns. The strong net asset inflows we expect to see in 2022 will be met with some volatility as investors reallocate capital from traditional long only funds into hedge funds, move some capital out of hedge funds into private markets as well as rotate capital within the hedge fund space. We would like to thank our investor relationships globally for taking the time to participate in this survey and provide us with these invaluable insights.”

This marks the inaugural survey since the completion of the transfer of Deutsche Bank’s Global Prime Finance and Electronic Equities businesses to BNP Paribas. The migration of clients, technology and around 900 key staff globally was successfully completed at the end of 2021. This platform, along with the acquisition of Exane and the referral agreement to provide continuity of service to clients of Credit Suisse’s Prime Services and Derivatives Clearing business, enable BNP Paribas to offer clients globally a strong alternative to the US banks in Prime Services and Global Equities.

Key findings of BNPP’s Alternative Investment Survey:

The hedge fund booster

The hedge fund outlook for 2022 is optimistic as investors seek to inject a further dose of capital into low beta strategies to protect against rising inflation.

Over half of investor respondents plan to grow their hedge fund portfolio in 2022, with the average respondent looking to increase hedge fund exposure by US$244 million at the expense of long only funds across equity, credit and fixed income.

Investors are expected to have met their return target for their hedge fund portfolio last year (average target of 8.32%), with 62% of respondents having already met this by end-November 2021, including 29% of which exceeded.

The rise of the e-investor: allocators adapt to the pandemic

Three in every five respondents completed all due diligence virtually for previously unknown managers since the pandemic began.

Three-quarters of survey participants made new allocations to previously known managers by completing some due diligence virtually.

It’s all about the multi-strat

Multi-strategy is predicted to be the best performing strategy in 2022 after being the second best last year, falling short to event-driven.
Multi-strategy is expected to see the second highest net inflows this year, following specialist equity long / short funds.

The quant comeback

Quant equity and quant multi-strategy are expected to make a comeback with over one in ten investors looking to add to the space.

These strategies outperformed the overall hedge fund industry last year having underperformed the previous three years.

The dawn of Eurasia

Asia Pacific and Europe are the most sought after regions for 2022.

Investors look to increase exposure to equity long / short funds in both these regions and have also expressed interest in expanding their European credit exposure.

Intermediaries drive the growth of customisation

45% of investors have customised mandates with managers up from 31% two years ago.

Investment consultants report customisation for over half of their hedge fund assets and expect this to grow to two-thirds within the next five years. For fund of funds this is currently about one-third and expected to grow to almost half of their allocations by 2027.

The crypto creep

23% of investor respondents invest in cryptocurrency strategies with 15% expecting to increase their investment in 2022 and a further 29% of investors who do not currently invest looking to do so.

Investors are still research-gathering and are focused on understanding alpha generation opportunities versus crypto beta, how best to position within their portfolio and the correct fee structure.

The green dollar strengthens as investors continue to drive the ESG agenda

One-third of investor respondents’ state that they invest in ESG dedicated strategies with one-fifth of investors planning to increase this in 2022. A further 23% of investors are considering an investment.

Diversity and inclusion remains an area of focus with 38% of respondents reporting investing in women and minority owned managers, up from 21% five years ago. 18% of respondents expect to grow this in 2022 while 20% of respondents are considering investing for the first time.

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However, barriers to further adoption remain: 71% of Australian respondents cite inconsistent data quality across asset classes as one of the top five hindrances, and 57% name data quality and consistency challenges. Lack of backing from senior leadership appears to be a greater barrier among investors in Australia (39%) compared to those in APAC excluding Australia (30%) and globally excluding Australia (22%).

Key findings of the ESG Global Survey 2021 include:

• Commitment to ESG soon central to Australia: The penetration of ESG in Australia is expected to increase significantly in the coming two years. Today, 50% of investors say ESG is becoming integral or a necessity to investment strategy – and this number is anticipated to jump considerably to 79% in two years’ time.^[2]
• Reputation is the strongest ESG driver: Brand and reputation are the strongest drivers for APAC investors to incorporate ESG in investment decisions. More than half (57%) say this is the primary driver for this choice – a slightly lower percentage than the global figure of 59%.
• Drivers differ by market: China and Singapore cite reputation as the strongest driver of ESG integration, but in Australia, external stakeholder requirements lead (68%), with reputation sitting in fourth place at 32%. Hong Kong is also motivated by external stakeholders (48%), but in Japan, better long-term returns drive ESG integration, cited by 64%.
• ESG across asset classes: While in Australia equities top the list of asset class preferences for ESG adoption (68%) in line with global figures at 69%; we see that only 14% of the Australian cohort use this approach in private equity/debt vs. 40% globally. On the other hand, ETF tracker funds (29%) and ETF thematics (32%) garner greater support in Australia compared to both regional and global figures.
• ESG more prevalent within real estate: Investors in Australia show a stronger propensity to use ESG within real estate (54%), compared to their peers across the region (24%) as well as globally (35%).
• Performance remains a question: A greater portion of Australian investors believe ESG is constrained by a lack of conviction in its ability to improve long-term performance (68% vs 50% globally).
• Cost a concern alongside leadership: The proportion of investors in Australia who say lack of backing from senior leaders holds back ESG adoption is higher than that globally (39% vs. 22%).
• Inconsistent ratings: 68% of investors are concerned about conflicting ESG ratings or indices, this is in line with the global average.

This research indicates a key turning point in the maturity of incorporating ESG. While previous surveys consistently demonstrated growing ambitions around responsible investing, there are now strong signals that concrete actions have followed, and are accelerating at pace. Looking ahead, Australia is showing all the signs of ESG become central to investors’ strategy in the next 2 years.

Nadim Jouhid, Head of Investment Solutions at BNP Paribas Securities Services Asia Pacific said: “The diversity of the APAC region is reflected in the results of this year’s survey, but what is clear is that change is happening swiftly, with ESG playing a rapidly increasing role in investment decisions.

“The preference among many APAC investors for private assets as a route to ESG investing points to the region’s significant variations in outlook compared to the global survey base. Having access to these important points is critical for BNP Paribas to continue offering the products and services our clients in APAC require.”

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[1] The ESG Global Survey 2019 – Securities Services (cib.bnpparibas)
[2] Investors were asked to describe the role of ESG in investment strategy in one of five choices: It plays a minor role; It plays a growing role but is not central to our strategy; It is becoming integral to much of what we do; It is central to almost everything we do; It is a necessity in everything we do.

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Sandrine Ferdane

A BNP Paribas Corporate and Institutional Banking (CIB) survey of 53 hedge funds with a combined AUM of over half a trillion USD has found that 40% include environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in their investment process.

The survey highlights that hedge funds are reaching a tipping point of incorporating ESG into their decision making, finding that the majority of funds will integrate ESG no later than 2022. The key findings include:

• Tipping point & drivers: 40% of hedge funds surveyed integrate ESG into their investment process, driven by client demand (71%) and investor requirements (67%). Consequently, a variety of ESG investment styles have been added to traditional hedge fund strategies. ESG integration is reaching a tipping point; by mid-2022, 57% of surveyed funds will be incorporating ESG, and likely to be earlier given market dynamics.
• Characteristics challenges: 60% of participants do not currently integrate ESG. Some remain sceptical that ESG-related products/data sets can improve risk-returns and question whether they can be successfully combined into existing hedge fund investment strategies.
• Barriers: Of the surveyed funds integrating ESG, only 48% are driven by the belief that it will improve their risk-return profile. 67% of them cite social factors as the most difficult to analyse and incorporate. There was also an ‘action gap’ between the familiarity of sustainable products and uptake.
• Corporate sustainability: Hedge funds are becoming increasingly aware of their responsibilities to the environment and society. Currently 55% of all respondents use ESG principles in the management of their companies driven by firm leadership, and 62% are measuring their operational carbon footprint.
• Mainstreaming in the future: Over 50% of respondents believe there will be increased demand for ESG-integrated investments post-COVID. Furthermore, 85% of funds integrating ESG expect more regulatory disclosure requirements in the next year, with the majority taking a greater role in ESG consultations. 

Similar to the 2019 BNP Paribas asset managers and owners’ survey, social factors and data remain  current challenges as 1 in 5 hedge funds do not integrate ESG due to lack of data.

Sandrine Ferdane, BNP Paribas Global Head of Financial Institutions Coverage (FIC) emphasised: “As we have seen across the investment landscape, hedge funds are evolving to integrate ESG into their decision making. It is clear that hedge funds are starting to measure and manage certain ESG considerations – especially within their operations.”

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Luc Renard

BNP Paribas Securities Services has announced a new partnership with Digital Asset to design a number of real-time trade and settlement apps using DAML^[1] smart contracts.

The new apps will provide market participants in Asia Pacific with real-time access to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX)’s anticipated DLT^[2]-based trading and settlement platforms. The apps will also be available to clients in markets that have not integrated DLT, bringing them the benefit of real-time workflows.

The first solution, due in 2021, is a smart elections service for corporate actions. Thanks to the use of DAML smart contracts, all parties in the corporate action chain will receive corporate action information such as dividend reinvestment or purchase offer decisions at the same time, reducing processing time, improving operational efficiency and enabling investors to finalise their decisions on the most current information on market factors.

Luc Renard, Head of Financial Intermediaries Client Line & Digital Transformation APAC for BNP Paribas Securities Services, said: “As a leading provider of custody and third-party clearing solutions in Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas has an important role to play in ensuring market participants can fully capitalise on the smart contract technology that underpins the latest clearing, trading and settlement innovations.

“We are excited to lay the foundations of our direct connectivity to the ASX’s next-generation solution and the future phase of HKEX’s platform with our first DAML-based solutions.We believe that DAML has the potential to emerge as a new standard for international capital markets. As a platform-agnostic, smart contract language, it can be used by almost any trading and settlement platform an exchange might select. “

Jon Rout, Business Development Director APAC for Digital Asset Holdings, said: “Our work with BNP Paribas has the potential to change the way organisations design their post-trade and custodial functions – increasing the scope for innovation and reducing risk. BNP Paribas Securities Services’ vision of bringing real-time post-trade information to clients and leveraging DAML smart contracts to automate client process flows at scale is an indication of just how transformative DLT will be for custody services.”

BNP Paribas will connect to the ASX CHESS+ platform and the anticipated HKEX Synapse solution  via the new Ledger Application Programming Interface for real-time information flows.

In Australia, BNP Paribas will take a segregated node in the ASX CHESS+ distributed ledger, enabling the bank to offer its clients the full benefits of smart contract technology, including real-time information, rapid innovation and workflow automation from issuer to investor.

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[1] DAML is a smart contract platform created by Digital Asset which is used by financial institutions to automate digital agreements with certainty and finality
[2] DLT : Distributed Ledger Technology

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As part of its digital transformation programme, BNP Paribas Securities Services is using NLG to transform large amounts of structured global custody data into concise and insightful commentaries.

Along with traditional monthly statistics reports providing in-depth data on their operations, BNP Paribas Securities Services clients will receive analysis and commentaries on their assets under custody, settlement, corporate actions and income activities.

This one-page executive summary, written in natural language, will alert clients to unusual patterns and highlight areas for improvement and best practices, allowing for enhanced oversight, controls and operational efficiency. For example, the summary points to the percentage of corporate actions instructions received after deadline or to manual instructions rates and suggests specific actions to increase efficiency and thus mitigate risks and lower costs.

Christelle Ybanez, Head of Asset Owners & Asset Managers Strategy & Planning at BNP Paribas Securities Services, said: “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence technology, our NLG report summarises hundreds of pages of data into easy-to-understand key trends and recommendations. This will provide our clients with insightful analysis on the wealth of data generated by their operations, helping them enhance oversight and efficiency across multiple markets.”

The solution will be deployed globally, starting with France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.

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Arnaud Claudon

BNP Paribas Securities Services and BlackRock Solutions have entered into a strategic alliance via Aladdin Provider to deliver integrated investment management capabilities to mutual clients.

As pressure increases to drive efficiency, asset managers and asset servicers are refining their operating models to streamline operational activities and technology, creating closer integration along the investment lifecycle. This alliance brings together BNP Paribas Securities Services’ middle office, fund administration and custody services with Aladdin’s investment management infrastructure to create a fully integrated end-to-end investment management solution.

As part of the alliance, BNP Paribas Securities Services will be leveraging Aladdin to perform middle office outsourced services maintaining Aladdin’s Investment Book of Record as the trusted source of data.

This collaboration extends the firms’ existing relationship; BNP Paribas Securities Services, a client of eFront since 2007, utilises eFront Invest to provide comprehensive asset servicing solutions to leading alternative asset managers. eFront was acquired by BlackRock in 2019.

Announcing this partnership, Arnaud Claudon, Head of Asset Owners and Managers Client Lines at BNP Paribas Securities Services, said:

“We are delighted to join the Aladdin Provider network. This innovative operating model, which is already live and co-designed with our mutual client, BNP Paribas Asset Management, will combine all the advantages of a leading front office platform with those of our middle and back office capabilities and multi-local expertise.

“This partnership further highlights our ability to provide full connectivity to our clients, regardless of their choice of front office architecture, and delivers a true front-to-back solution.”

Sudhir Nair, global head of BlackRock’s Aladdin business, added: “We are thrilled to welcome BNP Paribas Securities Services to the Aladdin Provider network, building on our already strong partnership through eFront. We are particularly excited to have BNP Paribas Securities Services leverage the Aladdin platform to offer middle office services, providing our mutual clients with operating model flexibility and transparency.”

Aladdin is BlackRock’s investment management and operating platform used by many of the world’s most sophisticated investors. It combines advanced risk analytics with comprehensive portfolio management tools, trading, operations, compliance, and accounting tools on a single platform.

BNP Paribas Securities Services is the world’s fifth largest global custodian with EUR 10.5 trillion in assets under custody^[1]. The bank provides a wide range of services including custody, fund administration as well as middle and back office services, making the most of its global, multi-local operating model.

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[1] Source: BNP Paribas Securities Services website

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Belinda Nicholas

A BNP Paribas Securities Services global survey shows that chief operating officers (COOs) are more focused than ever on growth and transformation, reflecting financial institutions’ drive to adapt to change.

In APAC the trend towards transformation was most pronounced, with 56% of COOs feeling that one of the areas in which their work adds the most value is delivering transformation or significant change projects, compared with a global average of just 39% of COOs who said the same. 

Key findings – overall

• While risk management remains a key part of the role (cited by 42% of respondents), COOs said that driving growth opportunities, including new products and services (52%), and delivering transformational and significant change projects (39%), have become essential.
• This trend is particularly marked in APAC where 56% of COOs ranked transformation as their top priority (vs. 26% in North America).
• COOs overwhelmingly recognise the role IT has to play in driving transformation. 68% of COOs say they collaborate closely or very closely with IT. 38% say they want greater collaboration with technology and IT departments.
• COOs globally recognise that they cannot simply rely on technology alone. Asked what could help drive transformation projects and business growth, 67% of COOs said upskilling the workforce while 60% said spending time with clients.

Key findings – Asia Pacific

• Over two-thirds (68%) of APAC COOs want a different title – with “Chief Change Officer” the preferred alternative.
• 52% of APAC respondents said they wanted closer collaboration with technology and IT departments.
• 37% of APAC COOs have technology or IT teams reporting to them, compared with 24% of COOs globally.
• 62% of APAC COOs think change projects will become one of the areas they spend most of their time.

Key findings – buy-side

Highlighting the increasing competition and ongoing digital transformation in the asset management industry:

• 63% of asset manager COOs cited increased competition in the market as a key challenge.
• 59% of asset manager COOs said they saw themselves spending more time on delivering change projects in future (vs. 43% overall). Nearly a quarter (24%) would prefer to be called chief change officer (vs. 10% overall).
• 61% of asset manager COOs said they were looking for closer collaboration with IT or technology departments (vs. 38% overall). Furthermore, asset manager COOs were most likely to come from technology or IT backgrounds (35%), whereas COOs across financial services were more likely to come from finance or accounting backgrounds.

Key findings – sell-side

COOs in sell-side organisations show renewed focus on performance, growth and costs, after previously focusing on implementing new regulations:

• 56% of sell-side COOs cited commercial acumen as the most important competency to have in the future (vs. 38% on the buy-side) – a twofold increase compared to today.
• 42% of sell-side COOs saw themselves spending more time on realising cost savings in future (vs. 32% currently).
• Sell-side COOs were most likely to feel the COO title is still relevant. Only half of respondents felt an alternative (such as chief strategy of transformation officer) was more appropriate (vs. 66% on the buy-side).

Belinda Nicholas, BNP Paribas Securities Services’ Head of Relationship Management, said: “BNP Paribas has a long history of working with COOs, whose responsibilities are wide-ranging and continue to expand. As the operating environment in Australia has become increasingly competitive, collaboration with technology is seen as a key amplifier of business performance. As asset owners and managers outsource more, our report found that a key priority for COOs is harnessing data and technology to support better investment decisions and add greater value for members and investors.”

Read the report: The Future COO: Evolution or Revolution? report. It is based on interviews with 250 financial services COOs worldwide. Interviews were conducted in Q4 2019.

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