W&F Issue 2 2018

www.wealthandfinance-news.com 28 Wealth & Finance International - Issue 2 2018 Since its inception in 2012, B&B Analytics has equipped clients with a complete and proven operating model, enabling them to deliver enhanced transparency, safety and sustainable performance. Operating within the hectic financial sector, B&B Analytics works hard to reduce the workload of companies, reducing their stress levels by taking on the analytical aspects of their work. The company’s offering allows clients to fully focus on their core function - delivering the right advice to their clients, by confidently shouldering the responsibility of providing them with analytically backed answers, and complex research driven solutions. Through its advisory services, the team delivers tailored guidance to clients on their specific needs. Guido outlines the firm’s approach, and explains how the team uses its expertise to produce desired outcomes. “When approaching new clients, careful judgement is applied to recommend the best solutions, shaped by decades of in-house expertise and a vast global network of partners. Alongside this, through cutting-edge technology and analytics, we provide a comprehensive view of the risk and value drivers of ‘total wealth’. “Just as an architect draws the plan of a house, we help design the wealth structure through a rigorous interview process, aligned to the unique situation and needs of our clients. This forms the basis of a bespoke asset allocation and investment strategy that is aligned with their goals and risk-taking ability. Also, we help discover and mitigate risks through systematic risk overlays keeping in mind all applicable constraints. “Finally, we draw upon our deep industry knowledge and experience of our associates, as well as assisting clients with the strategic governance of their companies and real estate. Also, we leverage our global network to facilitate strategic transactions across geographies.” With technology becoming increasingly important in the financial market, B&B Analytics is working exceptionally hard to offer clients cutting edge solutions which meet their individual needs. This is part of the overall mission of B&B Analytics, and Guido elaborates on the vision of his company, as well as discussing what differentiates the firm from its competitors, including how they ensure that their clients see the overall picture, rather than just isolated facts. “Here at B&B Analytics, our goal is to leverage innovative technology and analytics, enabling clients to optimally position portfolios of financial and real assets to distinctive risk realities and investment goals. “We enable clients to incorporate both bankable and non-bankable investments at every stage of the investment process, which is unique as most wealth advisors are focused on analysing and managing only the bankable assets of their clients. “A focus restricted to bankable assets is counterintuitive for two reasons; firstly, most investors have significant investments in non- bankable assets like real estate and private business, and; secondly, the objectives and goals of investors are typically related to their entire net worth (i.e. ‘Total Wealth’) and not just to their bankable net worth.” B&B Analytics is focussed on improving portfolio stability and control, whilst also providing various insights which guide the client on how to position in a prudent way. Guido comments further on this aspect of the firm’s business, as well as its focus on design and delivery of projects and results. “All insights delivered by us are based on a risk driven framework allowing a continuous evaluation of decisions in the context of risks taken. This improves portfolio stability and allows for greater performance control, which is the key objective for investment managers. Navigating Towards Financial Equilibrium B&B Analytics is a strategic advisor leveraging technology and analytics, to deliver cutting-edge risk and research capabilities to the investment management industry, serving family offices, financial advisors, and alternative investment managers globally. We spoke to Guido Buehler as we aim to find out more about the extensive success of the company. 1802WF23 “Furthermore, we have a design focus and spend a lot of the time thinking, debating and improving our analytics platform and services to enhance client experience. Capabilities such as research, risk analytics and investment intelligence, which are core to our value proposition, are developed and maintained in-house. Other capabilities are sourced externally from best-in-class providers and integrated into our platform. This approach has allowed us to rapidly enhance the breadth and depth of our offering, allowing us to be in a position where we are a turnkey solution for clients. “Interestingly, our capabilities can be delivered as a standalone tech platform, as an extension of a client’s in-house team, or as a strategic partner to optimise operations. Delivery can be customised as an optimal mix of technology and services to cater to each client. Clients ultimately control how they want to engage.” Providing us with a brief overview of the industry within Switzerland, Guido explains what challenges the firm has faced and whether there any specific challenges which are affecting it. “Client expectations are changing and this demands a change in the way they are served. They seek to understand the whole picture, including the impact of investment decisions on their real assets. Expectations are no longer anchored around just management of known risks, but they also require a careful assessment of the potential unknown risks. Delivering total wealth transparency has become as important to a family office, as has substantiating performance for an investment manager. As technology raises client sophistication, positioning portfolios through an examination of all possible outcomes, rather than predicting the future, is the way forward. “Amongst the team, we believe that Big Data and Machine Learning are paving the way for predictive analytics on securities and markets. Large and varied data sets that blend historical and real time data are now becoming more relevant in the development of improved investment algorithms.