Kneip awarded Best Fund Data Management & Reporting Specialists
Kneip has been accredited Best Fund Data Management and Reporting Specialist by Wealth & Finance International, in the Global Insurance and Risk Management Awards 2021.
[This article was originally published in Wealth & Finance International]
A recognised leader in fund data management and reporting solutions for the asset management industry, Kneip has been accredited Best Fund Data Management and Reporting Specialist for 2021. The company is known for developing solutions that remove complexity throughout the fund lifecycle and for helping clients manage data and ensure compliance in a changing regulatory environment.
Established in Luxembourg since 1993, Kneip has spent nearly 30 years investing to becoming the market’s one-stop shop for fund data management and regulatory reporting. Today, the company manages the data publication and investor disclosure for more than 10,000 funds in over 40 countries, including the production of over 200,000 UCITS KIIDs, PRIIPs KIDs and EPTs, and it currently services more than 30% of the ISINs in the EU.
Kneip covers all aspects of the fund life cycle, from data management, through fund registration, all necessary calculations, document and template production, as well as distribution and filing. This integrated approach creates efficiencies by leveraging client fund data across the spectrum of regulatory reporting requirements under MIFID, PRIIPS, UCITS, AIFMD, SFDR and Solvency II reporting. “With data at the core of our solutions, our clients can accelerate the production and publication of fund documentation, easily adapt to new regulatory requirements, and gain insights to expand their distribution footprint further,” explains Enrique Sacau, CEO. As a result, Kneip is able to handle most of its customers’ requirements across different activities and regulations, which has many advantages, from data sharing, data consistency, efficiency gains as well as cost efficiencies.
One of the biggest risks faced by the fund industry today is still the huge increase in regulatory reporting and transparency requirements that has come into place since the 2008 financial crisis. Understanding the implications of this ever-changing regulatory landscape is a critical challenge for asset managers. With Kneip, financial institutions can ensure compliance across MiFID, PRIIPs, AIFMD and UCITS regulations.
The company is independent and acts as channel for its clients to address general regulatory questions to EU regulators while maintaining industry focus. Sacau explains: “Kneip works directly with regulators and industry bodies to anticipate regulations and understand their impact on our clients so they always stay ahead of the curve.” As an active member of various industry bodies and panels, including EFAMA, ALFI, and FinDatEx, Kneip contributes to regulatory change forums to ensure its service delivery and product development is always one step ahead.
Alongside regulatory compliance, another major risk faced by financial institutions lies within the quality of the data they publish. It is critical to success in fund distribution, as it allows funds to be seen and selected by all the right potential investors, yet Kneip’s research shows that nearly 4 out of 10 data points suffer from inconsistencies which carries obvious operational and compliance risks. This is particularly concerning in the age of Electronically Traded Funds (ETFs) when the majority of products in retail distribution are being selected by computers, and inconsistent data points can cause the automatic rejection of a fund.
With so much in fund distribution resting on the quality of the data held and published, Kneip can help ensure accurate and up-to-date data and documentation dissemination, as Sacau explains: “We can guarantee the highest data consistency on the market, which means lower risk of inaccurate data and more exposure to potential investors. Our aim is to help our clients control their data, lower their risk, and ultimately inform their business strategy.”
The firm never stops to invest in its data management solution, as proven with the recent acquisition of technology company Dataglide, a specialist in data transformation and cloud-based automation. Kneip now offers a one-stop shop for all fund data to be published which reduces complexity for clients, significantly accelerates publication times and ensures consistent fund data across all the right destinations.
Kneip also has ambitious plans for 2022. Over the next months it will continue to develop its next generation fund data management solution, which is already transforming the way its clients manage and publish their fund data. 2022 is expected to be a regulatory year for the fund industry, with two big deadlines in December with PRIIPs and SFDR, as well as new rules under Mifid II and IDD on sustainability preferences in August 2022. Kneip is developing new solutions within its investor disclosure offering to help clients get ahead of these critical regulatory deadlines.
Finally, strong of its recent partnership with Nasdaq, the firm plans to continue to bring transparency and efficiency to the European Asset Management industry, to increase its distribution capability and to develop new ways to support its clients fund distribution strategies.
The article was originally published in Wealth & Finance International