Financial markets: Literature

During the 1990s economic boom, financial services companies moved into the alluring mass affluent segment, relying heavily on technology. However, as aborted attempts at mass affluent offerings have proven, technology alone won't win the wealth management game.

In their quest to become ever more efficient, companies are looking to help workers quickly pinpoint and apply relevant knowledge from a growing haystack of corporate content that often includes 'messy' knowledge -- knowledge that is out-of-date, out-of-reach and out-of-touch.

In this paper, the IBM Institute for Business Value presents six key competencies and corresponding case studies to guide companies through an assessment of their current strengths in preparation for the future financial services marketplace.

Though companies are understandably reluctant to tackle the issue of rising trade funds investment costs, new tools and techniques can help them regain control.

Three strategic initiatives promise the type of far-reaching change that is required to rein in costs today and position firms favorably for the next market upturn.

Over the last decade, the steady flow of communication along the information superhighway has risen to tidal wave proportions. Today, online consumers are deluged with an unrelenting stream of electronic communications. Advertising envelops every major Internet search engine.

In today's high-tech economy, the greatest challenge isn't keeping up with technology -- it's keeping up with your customers' rising expectations.

Out of the 74 fixed income electronic trading systems (ETSs) existing in the United States, two dominant types will ultimately emerge. One will cater to price-sensitive investors, and the other will target time-sensitive traders.

Strategy consulting helps companies transform the way they do business. We help our clients achieve competitive advantage through a fusion of business, customer and technology strategies and an explicit linkage of critical issues to actions and results.

As Asian banks and financial institutions emerge from a series of jolts to their stability, in the form of scandals, consolidations, declining consumer confidence and price wars, the industry is forced to rethink, re-strategise and reengineer processes and business plans.

The path to a healthy, sustainable equilibrium within the global financial system will require institutions and governments to effectively manage the overarching yin yang - the delicate balance between financial stability and healthy financial innovation.