APAC’s Financial Professionals Optimistic on Economic Growth, says Misys

Asia Pacific’s (APAC) financial professionals are positive on the region’s economic growth prospects according to Misys, which attracted more than 200 delegates late last month to its annual Asia Market Forum in Denpasar, Bali.

C-level representatives and heads of businesses in the major financial services organisations attending the event, entitled ‘Define the Future’, were surveyed on key challenges and opportunities.

Opinions were canvassed on topics including last year’s drivers for IT spend, the critical growth factors for the next 12 months and the perceived state of the economy.

Key findings from the survey include:

The economy is returning to health:

• Forty-eight per cent of attendees stated that the APAC region has returned to pre-2008 performance/growth levels.
• Thirty-four per cent of attendees believe the APAC region is now performing better than pre-2008 performance/growth levels.

Regulation had the biggest impact on IT spend in the past 12 months:

• Sixty-eight per cent of respondents stated that regulation had the biggest impact on their business over the last 12 months, including Central Bank regulation, Basel II and III and the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and Dodd-Frank.

Product innovation, operational efficiency and regulatory compliance are key for next year:

• More than half the delegates stated that regulation would be the key driver of spend in the next 12 months; 53% voted this their number one priority.
• Product innovation was the second biggest IT spend priority for next year.
• Reducing costs and increasing efficiencies came in as the third highest priority.

Identification of opportunities to capture growth:

• Key to growth will be improving customer satisfaction, with 39% of respondents stating this is a top priority.
• Developing innovative products will also be a critical success factor in continuing growth in the financial services industry with 36% putting this at the top of their growth agenda. agenda.

“Asia is back,” said Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and former President of UN Security Council, who attended the forum. “After a brief downturn following the great financial crisis, the Asian economies are bouncing back.

“As new leaders emerge in the three most populous countries, China, India and Indonesia, the reform processes will accelerate. Growth will accelerate too. By 2020, Asia will have the largest middle-class population in the entire world.”

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