Adapting investment services in Aotearoa: Navigating digital disruption through a changing landscape
Author: Stephen Jennings
Supervisors: Henk Roodt, Steve Henry
Jennings, S. (2024). Adapting investment services in Aotearoa: Navigating digital disruption through a changing landscape. (Unpublished document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Professional Practice). Otago Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga, New Zealand.
Abstract
Systemic underinvestment in technology within the New Zealand investment services sector amidst an unprecedented rate of change is threatening access for consumers and institutions to tailored investment products.
Learning from the past failures of organisations who have neglected the innovation taking place around them, such as taxi companies not responding to Uber, hotel chains not considering Airbnb, or Kodak failing to adopt digital imaging technologies, the investment services sector is displaying signs of vulnerability to this disruption.
Research was carried out into the dynamic changing environment of the investment services sector and its relationship to change, digital awareness and action, including the role that digital plays in bridging the gap between technology strategy divergence from organisational strategy, and the influence of leadership on innovation.
The ramifications of this are significant as organisations are not taking timely, risk-based strategic actions to address a growing issue. Organisations lacking digital readiness are positioned as most at risk, with the wealth management sub-sector perceived to be lagging in this competency. Organisations need to prepare adaptive and responsive strategies to increase capability and nimbleness as rapid change becomes a new normal.
The study concludes with the introduction of a digital awareness dashboard to facilitate transition to timely strategic and tactical responsiveness, supplemented by a change framework to embed innovation in leadership.
Keywords
digital disruption, financial investment, technology, wealth
Licence
This thesis is not publicly available.