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Safeguard your returns and avoid unnecessary risks and costs with Mercer - an industry leader in governance, investment operations and execution risk.
Our experience shows non-financial risks can sometimes have an even more serious impact on an organisation’s bottom line than financial risks. Particularly amid increased regulatory demands, operational errors can result in hefty fines, litigation and remediation costs, and other indirect losses such as reputational damage.
The biggest challenge with mitigating operational risk lies in its complexity. Compared with the more-familiar financial risks, operational risks often involve multiple risk factors and diverse risk types – and that diversity is only increasing.
According to the latest from the World Economic Forum executive opinion survey, cyberattacks are the number one risk in advanced economies for the second year in a row. The widespread apprehension about cybersecurity is reinforced by the results of the Marsh | Microsoft 2019 Global Cyber Risk Perception Survey, which saw almost 80% of executive respondents rank cyber risk among their top five concerns.
Turn our strengths into yours. Your investment managers already have a hard-enough time focusing on fund performance, expecting them to monitor, manage, and provide appropriate oversight over your firms’ entire processes isn’t always effective. Engaging an external operational risk expert like Mercer Sentinel ® will ensure you have a robust end-to-end operating framework so you can improve returns and avoid financial losses.
Mercer Sentinel® is a dedicated and specialised team of +50 risk and cost practitioners who possess multidisciplinary expertise in all matters related to investment operations and execution.
The Mercer Sentinel® team thinks global, but acts local. Our specialists have developed best-in-class frameworks and toolkits for managing operational risk and provide over 1,500 due diligence reports.
With experience across a broad range of industries, the Mercer Sentinel ® team performs more than 400 due diligence reviews annually, and has managed +$2 trillion in invested assets over 25 years.
Mercer knows one size never fits all, and we work closely with our clients across the Middle East to achieve better control and management of holding, trading, and servicing activities.
When assessing operational risks, we first start with understanding each client’s individual investment needs. We then build a customised roadmap to analyse existing operations against global best practices and identify any weaknesses. This includes a thorough review of: execution framework, monitoring protocols, back office operations.
With that insight, Mercer’s risk specialists will conduct a 360-degree assessment to evaluate current transaction execution technology and propose alternatives that can better mitigate operational risks. Our goal is to develop a well-defined and comprehensive approach to risk management that can be implemented quickly and improve long-term returns. We expressly consider:
Leading the way in investment operations with subject matter expertise in equity, fixed income, derivatives, hedge funds, private equity, real estate and infrastructure strategies.
Ashvin heads the Operational Risk Consulting Group within Mercer's investments business, based in Dubai. He is a specialist in governance, risk management, and investment operations and he has conducted countless Operational Due Diligence (ODD) reviews, investment governance, and operational and risk advisory projects with asset managers, asset servicers and asset owners globally.
Fluent in English, French and Hindi, Ashvin has over 10 years’ experience providing best-in-class investment consulting services to major UK and European asset managers and leading UK, European and Australian pension funds. His strategic foresight and global experience has helped his clients to build robust and resilient operating environments and control frameworks.
Before joining Mercer, Ashvin was a Senior Manager in the Asset Management Consulting practice of KPMG in London where he was responsible for managing and delivering complex engagements and where he was seconded to help a number of asset managers including a hedge fund manager and private equity manager improve controls. He has also provided advisory services to Global Custodian banks and fund administrators.
Ashvin is a CFA Charterholder, a qualified accountant (FCCA), and he has completed the Oxford Global Investment Risk Management Program.
The biggest threat to financial performance often stems from non-financial risk. Overcome operational risk and improve your investment returns today.
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