Access to look-through data on their investments is vital for insurers to comply with the new rules. Silverfinch is a secure fund data utility that allows asset managers to respond to their insurance company investors, who will be compelled to provide regulators with detailed information on invested assets from 1 January 2016, the date Solvency II takes effect. However, insurers will begin requesting look-through data from asset managers by end of Q1 2015 in preparation for the new regulation.
Premier chose Silverfinch because of its ability to take care of the large number of data requests it expects to receive, providing its insurance clients with the information in standard format that will help them to more easily deal with the new regulations. Another incentive was the security that Silverfinch brings to the process, only allowing authorised end investors access to the information.
Premier Asset Management has £3.4bn assets under management (as at 31 January 2015). The company’s investments are distributed primarily via financial advisers.
Mark Friend, Chief Operating Officer at Premier Asset Management said:
“Solvency II creates two major issues for asset managers. The first is the glut of look-through data requests we expect to receive from our insurance clients, beginning later this year. Having investigated all the available options for handling this, Silverfinch struck us as the most simple and elegant solution.
“The second point is that Solvency II is going to change the way in which insurers choose their asset managers. An asset manager’s willingness and ability to provide accurate and timely look-through data will become a key factor in their decision-making process. Those asset managers who fail to grasp this particular nettle are going to make themselves unattractive to insurers. By bringing in Silverfinch, we’re signalling to the insurance market that Premier is able to cope with all their post-Solvency II needs.”
John Dowdall, Managing Director of Silverfinch added:
“Many asset managers have not understood how much of an issue look-through data is going to be post-Solvency II. We believe that the ability to provide look-through data in a seamless and efficient manner will be a pre-requisite for an insurer to place its business with an asset manager. Expect to see this featuring heavily in insurers’ RFPs this year.
“Solvency II means that insurers need to know, right down the nth degree, to what level of risk their investments are exposed. Silverfinch was created to fulfil this role. Now that we’ve partnered with Luxembourg-based Fundsquare, we will be pushing hard this year to ensure asset managers understand the need for the product and the data it will provide their insurer clients.”
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