The paper entitled “Next Generation Wealth Management – Exceeding Expectations through Responsive, Dynamic Client Reporting,” was jointly authored by wealth management experts from Actuate and IBM and gives valuable and timely insight into how the wealth management industry is adapting its products and services suites to accommodate a new generation of wealth creators.

The industry is still growing, and fast. Citing research from the IBM Wealth Management Survey, Celent and the Boston College Social Welfare Research Institute, the paper explains that the size of the market is expanding along multiple lines. The wealth of high-net-worth individuals is expected to grow by six percent annually, while over the next 15 years those older than 65 with investable assets of more than $1 million are expected to increase sevenfold. In addition, this vast wealth is being passed on, with a staggering $41 trillion expected to be transferred between generations over the next 50 years. At the same time, client demands have now changed considerably. Investors expect not only the more ‘traditional’ wealth management services – wealth preservation products and estate planning – but also a level of sophisticated asset allocation. This trend is being championed by a new breed of millionaires who are more business-savvy than some of their more traditional counterparts as well as the younger generations coming into transferred wealth.

The paper also outlines and addresses some of the challenges faced by Wealth Managers; what do they do when clients expect on-demand, real-time, single-view reporting on a diverse range of assets and allocations – which their systems are simply not equipped to deal with? Client expectations of service experience are increasing because of their own experience of the power and usability of the internet as a tool to track their business and the markets they invest in; giving them real-time information at their fingertips. As these clients continue to seek accurate online access to performance information with dynamic tools for self-analysis, the Relationship Manager needs access to an even higher level of information manageability – so that he can tailor, contextualize and drive the value of the information and service he provides to the client.

“Banks must address several key issues to ensure client reporting can be leveraged as a brand differentiator. Although easy to identify, these requirements present some tough technical demands,” said Todd Paoletti, director of Customer Self Service Solutions at Actuate and one of the papers’ authors. “These technical demands include pulling together reliable, accurate information from multiple sources to present a holistic, customized view of the performance of a range of products; and ideally delivering that information in real time, using the latest Web 2.0/Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology, to offer the most sophisticated and dynamic interactive web experience. This paper gives valuable insight into the drivers and challenges that wealth providers face to satisfy the appetite of this new generation of web-savvy clients.”

“Delivering this next generation of rich, dynamic and holistic client reporting tools across the myriad of new investment products offers Wealth Managers clear competitive advantage, while ensuring that critical regulatory considerations are met,” added Rohitha Perera, Partner, IBM Global Business Services and a contributing author to this paper. “IBM’s experience in business consulting, integration and software coupled with Actuate’s sophisticated and dynamic client reporting technology, offer a compelling, integrated business solution for client reporting – ensuring Wealth Managers proactively service a growing client need that directly impacts revenue generation.”

To download the paper, please visit http://www.actuate.com/IBM-Wealth-Management

About Actuate Corporation

Actuate Corporation, the leader in Business Intelligence, Performance Management and Reporting Applications, enables organizations to develop solutions that optimize corporate performance. Actuate is the founder and co-leader of BIRT (Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools), the leading open source Eclipse Foundation BI reporting project. Applications built on Actuate’s open source platform provide all stakeholders inside and outside the firewall, including employees, customers, partners and citizens with information that they can easily access and understand to maximize revenue, cut costs, improve customer satisfaction, streamline operations, create competitive advantage and make better decisions.

Actuate has over 4,000 customers globally in a diverse range of business areas including financial services and the public sector. Founded in 1993, Actuate has headquarters in San Mateo, California, with offices worldwide. Actuate is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol ACTU. For more information on Actuate, visit the company's web site at www.actuate.com