The financial industry is currently undergoing radical change as a result of the increased implementation of digitalisation strategies. Due to pressure from a number of sources, finance firms, including asset managers, are looking to adopt technology solutions in their business processes. Through the introduction of new technologies and digitalisation strategies, the asset managers are hoping to secure their market segments in the future. Choosing which technology to implement is considered one of the most difficult decisions a manager has to make. Hence, this thesis proposes a framework to be used by asset managers in order to efficiently and swiftly evaluate a number of technologies when looking to digitalize manual processes. The largest bank in the Nordic region is Nordea, who have just recently announced that they will be looking to implement more digital solutions. This thesis was conducted in collaboration with Nordea Asset Management. The thesis explores three core areas: the future of the asset management industry, digitalisation strategies, and new technology adoption in order to produce the analytical framework. The framework is constructed using previously explored methods described in literature along with the key information gathered from experts at Nordea Asset Management. The result is a framework which combines expert knowledge of the asset management industry, successful methods regarding conceptual frameworks, technology life cycle and new technology adoption theory and digitalisation strategy concepts. In order for traditional asset managers to maintain their market position they will need to adapt new technologies. This is not only needed for efficiency and cost reasons but also because customers are starting to demand it. The sales channels, operations, personnel requirements and the business model as a whole are areas identified by this research project that will adapt through the introduction of digitalisation strategies being introduced. The framework constructed in this thesis provides the asset management firms with a method of successfully applying digitalisation strategies through new technology adoption. / Finansindustrin genomgår just nu radikala förändringar på grund av att digitaliseringsstrategier implementeras. Efter påtryckning från en rad olika håll, känner sig finansbolag, som inkluderar kapitalförvaltningsbolag, tvungna att implementera nya tekniska lösningar i sin verksamhet. Genom att adoptera nya tekniker och digitaliseringsstrategier hoppas kapitalförvaltare på att kunna försäkra sina marknadsandelar i framtiden. Men att välja vilken teknik som ska implementeras är ett av de svåraste beslut en ansvarig måste ta. Alltså, så föreslår detta arbete ett ramverk som kan användas av ett kapitalförvaltningsbolag för att, på ett effektivt och snabbt sätt, kunna evaluera en mängd tekniker när man vill digitalisera manuella processer. Den största banken i den nordiska regionen är Nordea, som just har informerat allmänheten att de kommer att börja implementera digitala strategier. Detta arbete skrevs i samarbete med Nordea Asset Management (NAM). Detta arbete koncentreras på tre centrala områden. Framtiden av kapitalförvaltningsindustrin, digitaliseringsstrategier, samt implementering av nya tekniker för att producera ett analytiskt ramverk. Ramverket är hopsatt genom att använda metoder från tidigare forskning tillsammans med nyckelinformation samlad av experter på NAM. Resultatet blir då ett ramverk som kombinerar expertkunskap från kapitalförvaltningsindustrin, lyckade metoder i relation till konceptuella ramverk, tekniklivscykel och ny teknikimplementationsteorier samt digitaliseringsstrategikoncepter. För att traditionella kapitalförvaltare ska kunna bibehålla sina nuvarande marknadspositioner, kommer de att behöva implementera nya tekniker. Detta behövs inte endast för effektivitet och kostnadsanledningar utan också för att kunden kommer att begära det. De områden som detta arbete har identifierat som kommer att behöva ändras på i och med implementeringen av digitaliseringsstrategier är: säljkanaler, operations, personalbehov och verksamhetsmodell. Ramverket konstruerat i detta arbete, förser kapitalförvaltningsbolag med en metod för att implementera digitaliseringsstrategier på ett effektivt och framgångsrikt sätt.

The asset management industry constitutes a vital part of the economy thanks to its financing role. The sector has profoundly changed since its establishment and, nowadays, changes in organization, investors’ behaviour and regulatory framework are deeply reshaping the industry. In this context, also the Italian market, which has traditionally been characterised by some distinguishing features, is being influenced by a series of modifications at both European and national level. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the Italian Asset Management industry’s structure and organisation, understand how it is evolving and grasp the factors that can affect its market to then draw implications influencing the business and operations of an asset servicer. This work divides the Italian Asset Management market into two parts, the Asset Managers segment, including collective management and discretionary mandates, and the Pension Schemes segment. These two composing parts are analysed from an Asset Servicer’s perspective, presenting data over the financial instruments they contain. The paper follows the Case Study approach employing mainly secondary quantitative data. In Italy, the distribution of Asset Management products as well as trading activities remain based on banking networks. In recent years, among collective management products, foreign-law mutual funds are the ones that grew the most. This, along with the fact that the asset servicers’ market is dominate by few specialized players operating on a global scale, puts the spotlight on asset servicers’ cross-border level of integration. Even tough discretionary mandates are struggling to recover and have grown at a slower pace, due to “MiFID II” upcoming rules, financial intermediaries will be encouraged to place these products on the market. Lastly, the Italian pension system is underdeveloped if compared to other European countries and few players own the majority of the complementary pension schemes market. The paper highlights how technology innovations, policies of the ruling governments, interest rates levels and national and communitarian regulation are the factors driving the asset management industry.