Research and publications

Fixing the Bank Factory
As regulators scrutinize leverage and demand higher amounts of capital for a given business volume, profitability must be sustained by increased productivity. This requires lean processes and rebuilding IT architecture to improve quality and reduce costs.
[Read Article]

The Insurance Challenge: Managing Complexity
Insurers that manage all sources of complexity are able to provide products with essentially the same market value, but at substantially lower costs.
[Read Article}

Health Insurers: The Customer Engagement Imperative
A confluence of forces is forcing health insurance companies to take bold steps to ensure their long-term viability while reducing the overall cost of healthcare. Insurers must improve the customer experience and capitalize on their uniquely rich data.
[Read Article]

More financial institutions articles and publications

Middle East Banking Market: The 2011 Outlook
Middle East banks continue on the path of recovery. Although the outlook for 2011 is positive, most analysts expect more subdued growth than in past year. The issue for GCC bankers is how to grow and improve profits in a year when their time-tested strategies may not work as well.
[Read Article]

Rating Operative Performance of PE Portfolio Companies
When the recession hit and credit markets froze, private equity (PE) firms in Europe retreated after years of prosperity. The PE fund companies that have rebounded have been decidedly hands-off—turning over more and bigger responsibilities to their deal partners.
[Read Article]

P&C Insurers Must Move to a Customer-Centric Operating Model
24 June 2011 — www.insurancetech.com
To capture the full benefits of a changing environment, insurers must create customer-focused models that shift away from their traditional channel or product focus. It's a daunting task, but A.T. Kearney's Joseph Reifel discusses several simple ways for insurers to succeed.
By Joseph Reifel
[Read Article]

Health Insurers: The Customer Engagement Imperative
22 April 2011 — Insurance & Technology
Insurers now have a great opportunity to take the lead in reforming healthcare delivery by harnessing market forces to curb costs without sacrificing quality—to succeed, the health insurance industry must take five proactive steps to better engage with its customers.
By Mike Hales, Joe Reifel, Paul Schroeder, Adam Pressman
[Read Article]

Technology: The Insurance Industry’s Pivot Point
Insurance companies seeking to lead their industry will focus on three innovative technologies—social networking, telematics and service-oriented architectures (SOAs).
[Read Article]

OpEd - Risk Management Beyond Basel III
1 December 2010 — US Banker
In trying to prevent a repeat of the Great Recession, Basel III could well be applying the brakes on the entire financial engine.
By Rajiv Shah
[Read Article]

Managing Complexity Preemptively
Leading financial institutions focus on complexity—not eliminating it but deciphering the bad from the good.
[Read Article]

The European Life-Insurance Industry
The life-insurance industry in Europe is at a critical juncture. How can it overcome market challenges to right the ship?
[Read Article]

Winning the Insurance Battle
The insurance industry's decades-old business model is undergoing change. To succeed, insurers must serve customers across an ever-expanding landscape.
[Read Article]

ATM Banking + Game Theory = Profits
What do outdoor advertising, retail networks and game theory have in common? They are all areas retail banks can tap to optimize their ATM networks.
[Read Article]

Insurance Distribution: Going for Broke(r)
Brokers are still a vital part of insurance distribution in Europe.
[Read Article]

OpEd - Risk Management Beyond Basel III
December 2010 — US Banker
In trying to prevent a repeat of the Great Recession, Basel III could well be applying the brakes on the entire financial engine.
By Rajiv Shah
[Read Article]

Reinventing Investment Banking in the GCC
The Gulf region's market for investment banking offers significant long-term potential. The economic downturn has offered an opportunity to change.
[Read Article]

Finding the New Klondike
After years of improving the infrastructure, the payments industry in Europe now faces restructuring.
[Read Article]

The Mortgage Business: Returning to Profitability
While profit margins have shrunk because of regulatory scrutiny and volatility in volumes, there is a "secret sauce" that can help return the mortgage business to profitability.
[Read Article]

Competing for Small Business P&C Insurance
Property and casualty insurance for small businesses is a challenge in today’s economy. To grow, insurers should focus on distribution, products and platforms.
[Read Article]

Globalization enters a new era: What course will it take?
March/April 2010 — Corporate Finance Review
Globalization is entering a new era and it will take collective, purposeful policies to ensure it continues.
By Paul Laudicina
[Read Article]

Retail Banking in Times of Crisis
After years of growth, retail banks posted shocking losses during the economic downturn. Amid a slow recovery and a lack of consumer confidence in the banking system, retail banks will have to realign their business models if they hope to attain pre-crisis profitability.
[Read Article]

GCC Banks: On the Road to Maturity
Banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries can breathe a little easier, as the factors that fueled their initial growth appear to be intact in the wake of the global economic crisis. However, with new pressures on the horizon, the laissez-faire approach of the past will not work.
[Read Article]

Seven Tenets of Risk Management in the Banking Industry
A fundamental issue was at the core of the economic crisis: Many of the world’s financiers lost sight of the responsibility to manage risk effectively. A renewed focus on risk management is the cure for the ailment that has hit the economy so hard.
[Read Article]

A Whole Lot Less Wealthy
Tens of millions of baby boomers—and their money—will be retiring over the next 20 years. That this demographic trend has collided with the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression is the topic of much discussion and speculation about the lasting impact of the "knock-on" effects.
[Read Article]

Private Equity Adapts to Darwinian Forces
The private equity industry is moving into a new era—where more hands-on operational ownership will replace the deal-driven approach that has served the industry so well. Rather than buying a troubled business, fixing it up and selling it quickly, PE companies are taking ownership.
[Read Article]

The New Bank Consumer
New products and channels are increasing costs and complexity. Banks today must please customers while maintaing margins.
[Read Article]

The Real Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Baby Boomers
To what extent has there been individual "wealth destruction" in the economic downturn and what will be its long-term impact?
[Read Article]

Five Forces Shaping the Banking Industry
Finding true success in next-generation banking.
[Read Article]

The Affluent Investor
Affluent customers, those with assets of €100,000 or more, make up a small percentage of total clients for banks, but they account for the majority of their financial assets. As people live longer and accumulate wealth past the age of 60, this segment is becoming increasingly important.
[Read Article]

Strategic Procurement for Financial Services
As the economic crisis continues, financial services companies are optimizing their procurement functions—and it's paying off.
[Read Article]

Cashing in on Cards
Getting more business value from debit.
[Read Article]

Beyond Segmentation
As the Brazilian economy has matured, so has its banking system. Excellent service and customer loyalty are no longer enough to gain a competitive advantage.
[Read Article]

Reinventing Banking
Financial crisis are nothing new. We offer seven possible avenues to rebuild the current banking industry.
[Read Article]

Managing Banks Beyond the Crisis: The New Financial Landscape
What appeared to be the largely American subprime mortgage problem of 2007 has become the global financial crisis of 2008.
[Read Article]

Insurance: Bridging Different Worlds
As growth through traditional sales channels loses steam, insurance companies and banks are tapping into new distribution channels outside their industry.
[Read Article]

Managing Banks Beyond the Crisis: The New Financial Landscape
What appeared to be the largely American subprime mortgage problem of 2007 has become the global financial crisis of 2008.
[Read Article]

SEPA Shakeout: Challenges in the Cards and Payments
The competition will be fierce as SEPA triggers a complete overhaul of the payments landscape and European banks struggle to compete for payment volumes.
[Read Article]

Pruning 'Bad' Complexity
July/August 2008 — BAI Online
Customized products can help or hinder financial institutions depending on how they manage the attendant complexity.
By Joe Reifel, Christian Hagen and Eric Stettler
[Read Article]

More Than Just Lip Service
A midsized GCC bank with worldclass customer service could increase yearly profits by $50 million to $150 million.
[Read Article]

Creating New Jobs and Value with Private Equity
Private equity is changing the face of business—and in ways that might surprise you. Firms backed by private equity pursue strategies that every company, troubled or not, can learn from.
[Read Article]

Bank Consolidation in the GCC: Myth or Mania?
The industry is not on the brink of consolidation – yet. Nevertheless, regional players should further consolidate now to prepare for challenges ahead.
[Read Article]

Adopting a Lean Mindset
Today's service industries are in a conundrum. To stay competitive and profitable, companies must focus on keeping labor costs low, but the increased demand for speedy service requires more labor.
[Read Article]

Investment Firms Improve, Retail Banks Slip
Investment firms are outperforming banks in the highly competitive race to increase profitability and gain market share, according to results of A.T. Kearney’s annual Financial Institutions Organic Growth Index.
[Read Article]

Battling the Beast: Complexity vs. Customization
In some ways, the financial services industry is where the automakers were in the 1970s, when every feature of a car was custom designed.
[Read Article]

Research & publications archive