The B2B SaaS and IT services company ensures the transition is seamless, efficient and cost-effective

by FAYYADH JAAFAR

KFintech Technologies Ltd, a leading business-to-business (B2B) software as a service (SaaS) and IT services company serving the asset management industry, is primed to assist asset managers in their journey towards a digital transformation.

By serving critical functions for asset managers, KFintech ensures the transition is seamless, efficient and cost-effective as it offers a comprehensive suite of solutions for asset managers, including fund accounting, transfer agency, compliance, data analytics, reporting, digital marketing and channel management.

In Malaysia, KFintech serves 20 marquee clients in the mutual fund and insurance industry, ranging from mid-size firms to global players. Its solutions are used by more than 5,000 clients worldwide.

KFintech’s registrar and transfer agency (RTA) function delivers front, middle and back-office services. As an RTA, KFintech acts as the extended operations function for the asset manager, covering all aspects of assets (investment) and liabilities (investor services).

KFintech’s South-East Asia (SEA) regional head Quah Meng Kee (picture) said the company manages a lot of key business processes end-to-end, including but not limited to transaction processing, clearing and settlement services, reconciliations, compliance, fund accounting and product development services.

“All transactions are processed on the same day in Malaysia. A mix of 40:60 — physical versus digital transactions are managed each day, and with more digitisation on the horizon, we expect the ratio to veer towards more digital in the coming year,”  he told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) recently.

By leveraging on its legacy of being one of the largest, as well as 30 years’ experience in the industry, KFintech provides scalability to the ever-changing capital market requirements, especially from the regulators.

Quah noted the three critical success enablers for asset managers in Malaysia that KFintech delivers to. Specifically, by providing highly resilient, secure and scalable platforms that are built on mobile-first micro services architecture driven and cloud-ready frameworks through Malaysia-specific platforms for asset classes of mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, alternatives and pensions for investor servicing and fund accounting/administration, leveraging a software and services model in which KFintech delivers all the services an asset manager needs (fund accounting/administration, investor servicing (transfer agency), digital stack (mobility, analytics, social and cloud for infrastructure) and its expertise in international operations.

“KFintech’s spectrum of services extends to other Asian economies such as the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore, in addition to being the market leader in India. We have developed proprietary multi-geography, multi-currency platforms for several asset classes and are able to bring the best of solutions, features, products and platforms to Malaysia, leveraging its extensive global client delivery.

“In the last seven years of our operations in Malaysia, we have helped our clients not only grow in terms of their assets under management, but we have also assisted them in reducing their operation expenditure and capital expenditure substantially through technological innovations and superior digital solutions,” Quah added.

Commenting on the growth potential of the fintech industry, he stated that the industry is experiencing rapid growth on a global scale.

“The last few decades saw all processing services within the capital markets done manually and/or physically. Now, Malaysia and the world are moving towards technology implementation to promote ease of doing business.”

He elaborated that the value KFintech brings — not only to the Malaysian market but across the SEA region — is the meticulously designed digital platforms that support asset management companies, along with the platform that we provide for investors to transact online without having to go through manual application forms. This helps to increase efficiency as well as provide investors with timely responses.”

Expansion

In terms of growth prospects, Quah said KFintech is looking to expand its footprint in the SEA region.

“We aim to expand our services to six or seven countries. With proven platform and delivery expertise across several countries within and outside SEA, our solutions are ready to deliver to the expectations of asset managers, regulators, institutional unit trust advisors and investors across all the SEA countries.

“We also understand, on a higher level, the challenges that exist in each of these countries and the pain points they face within the capital markets. We truly believe we can enhance our clients’ business and reduce their costs with our expertise and experience gained in the last three decades,” he added.

He explained that KFintech believes in localising all its solutions and, accordingly, it provides fit-for-purpose, country-specific solutions with an optimal mix of local and global resources to provide a holistic and future-proof solution. It has established a presence in each of its operating countries and will continue to expand its footprint within Malaysia and outside.

“We are trying to put down a strong foot in the entire SEA region, starting with Malaysia, and expanding to Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong, among others. Our presence in the geographies would have the same transformational impact that we delivered in Malaysia in the last seven years with our 20 clients.

“We believe that with the proven operating model, we can promote a best-in-class digital ecosystem in the identified countries that will be beneficial to all the asset management companies (AMCs) as well as the regulators,” Quah said.

Customer Base

KFintech’s growth in the last couple of years has mostly come from its current clientele’s word of mouth. Up to 70%–80% of the company’s new clients are referred by existing clients.

Now, Malaysia has at least 50 AMCs and KFintech services 20 of them, ranging from mid to large.

“Given our proven record and how we have stood strong against the test of time for the past seven years, we have had all the players in the Malaysian market speaking to us to explore a business partnership and upgrade their operations maturity and digital footprint substantially.

“So, I believe that our expertise, proven record with all stakeholders, combined with a ‘can do’ attitude, is a winning strategy for us to expand our clientele in the next couple of years,” Quah said.

Elaborating on the global picture, Quah said the pandemic and the change it brought would be a great example to demonstrate how KFintech could be the catalyst for substantive change in the industry.

For the past few decades, their clients have been running their businesses mostly manually, including physical application forms, retail agents making physical trips to settle and manage transactions, and so on.

However, post-mid-2020, even meeting up with investors had become a challenge, as sales and revenue for AMCs took a big hit.

“We help our clients by providing them with digital platforms for both their agents or distributors and their investors, replacing the hassle of filling up physical forms. This has helped them improve their businesses and sales, and we are happy to continue to assist them with our digital initiatives.

“Clients can now save on substantive costs, including printing the application forms, disseminating them to the branches and more. The digital platforms have directly contributed to cost savings,” he elaborated.

Addressing Clients’ Needs

Apart from providing and managing client’s day-to-day operations, KFintech also strives to understand their pain points and the key challenges they face today.

It would then help them to address these issues with KFintech’s solutions that have been tried and tested in other markets.

“We think that this is an exciting phase for KFintech in Malaysia. The local capital market industry is recovering at a rapid rate after the pandemic, and with the ease, convenience and appeal of our digital non-contact solutions, we believe we can make a real impact on the businesses and development of our clients and the market alike,” Quah said.

With innovative platforms, sound insights and years of expertise, KFintech is poised to bring about impactful changes and growth for local industry players.

“Our solutions have been helping our clients grow, which inevitably will aid the nation’s economy. We are very committed to making Malaysia’s capital markets amongst the most efficient and effective in the space we operate in,” he added.