Facing regulatory pressure, the efficiency of compliance and internal controlling functions has become a key challenge for the growth of asset management firms, the consulting firm Alpha FMC claims. The agency has conducted a study, which, according to a statement from the firm, finds that although organisational structures very from one player to another, the ways to improve operating models are the same: automation and precise definition of the scope of functions. The study surveyed heads of compliance and internal controlling at 26 French asset management firms, selected as representative of the market, with assets of over EUR1bn. For controlling functions, three types of tasks emerge at the respondent firms: “core” tasks, which are required to be handled by compliance and internal control resources (management of conflicts of interest, fighting financial crime), peripheral tasks which can be carried out by other departments (monitoring of thresholds, revision of AIFM owners’ equity levels), and finally, “legacy” tasks, such as monitoring of regulatory ratios, whose specifics are vary at individual asset management firms. The last category of tasks, which is often left to the head of compliance and internal control, has the potential to cut into operating efficiency for controlling departments. These are time-consuming tasks which, additionally, may generate conflicts of interest. To avoid this trap and preserve operating efficiency, it would appear to be essential to refocus controlling resources on “core” and “peripheral” tasks, the agency finds. The agency reports that the study also finds that automation is a strong area for progress for compliance and internal controlling resources. Although some tasks are generally automated, such as monitoring of thresholds and detection of market abuses, asset management firms could make real productivity gains and savings in human resources by automating other tasks such as AIFM reporting, flagging of operational incidents, and processing of personal transactions. “It should be noted that automation of controlling or compliance functions does not depend exclusively on actors’ goodwill. They depend on the range of tools made available by providers, which is not yet mature,” says Hella Laarif, a senior consultant at Alpha FMC, responsible for the study.