Buyside Behind

Fund managers are lagging behind investment banks in e-commerce, according to a study by CWB, a New York and London-based financial services consultancy. The study finds that only one third of fund managers are engaged in adopting an e-commerce strategy with the intent of producing revenue. That figure compares with two thirds of investment banks. CWB interviewed 103 senior IT and business decision-makers, including the top tier investment banks and the majority of the top 20 institutional money managers in Europe and the U.S.
CWB also compared e-commerce plans in the U.S. with those of Europe. It discovered that 56% of U.S. firms engage in e-commerce, while Europe is only slightly behind at 51%. European firms, however, said they have been engaged for less than a year as users—not providers—of e-commerce. However, every American firm engaged is acting as a provider as well as a user, suggesting that e-commerce is a more developed part of their business plans.
Craig Birkelund, head of the NY office, says, “Investment banks were earlier to recognize the need and the advantages that e-commerce would have for them. The fund managers are just beginning to wake up to that in recognizing that it’s not going away.”