Conclusion

 

For many businesses, recovery from and adjustment to the new reality that has followed the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic will be nonlinear given the virus’ unforeseeable progression and impact on the financial industry and world as a whole.

Buy-side firms have been resilient and remained operational during COVID-19 by implementing timely crisis management and business continuity strategies. Their ability to be flexible, maintain business as usual, remain focused on innovation and provide value has enabled them to prepare for how business can be safely and successfully conducted during an unprecedented time.

Looking after employees during the pandemic has been especially important. Firms moved quickly to enable remote working for almost all their people, often across multiple geographic locations — a major undertaking. While many things remained uncertain, keeping strong connections, maintaining employee engagement and collaboration by virtual means and prioritizing physical and mental health were key.

Bloomberg’s Buy-Side Enterprise Relationship Management team convened executives in roundtables and conducted in-depth interviews with senior leaders at numerous buy-side firms in the U.S. and Europe to share initiatives and efforts where they’ve seen success.

 

Companies recognized that business success is hinged on four interrelated themes: business continuity, collaboration, employee engagement, and employee health and well-being.

This report collated plans and business strategies from financial market players following the impact of the pandemic. While the findings drew from insights shared by buy-side firms, the learnings have universal significance and are relevant to many industries and businesses. The report’s key takeaways include:

• Business continuity — Firms had moved beyond crisis management mode and into the day-to-day of business continuity. Supporting employees to work effectively from home, ensuring robust and relevant technological infrastructure and platforms were in place and exploring options for a safe and successful reentry of employees into the physical workplace were taking priority.
   
• Collaboration — Finding innovative ways to collaborate with employees and clients now and going forward has been important. The focus has been on creating connection in a virtual world, on continuing to innovate and on being open with employees about the future of business and collaboration.
   
• Employee engagement — With most employees working remotely during the pandemic, employee engagement has been more important than ever. Firms worked quickly to develop and optimize engagement strategies suited to the new reality, encouraged employees to take time out and emphasized the importance of flexibility when planning for the future.
• Employee health and well-being — Physical and mental well-being have become a priority as firms seek to enable their people to thrive while working from home. Firms recognized that remote working can impact different employees in different ways, upped their focus on mental health, and planned for and communicated about the future with empathy.

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Contributors:

 

Cheryl Krauss, Chief Communications Officer, Barings

 

Rory Melick, Managing Director, Head of Employee Experience, Lord Abbett

 

Robert McWilliams, Chief Operating Officer of Global Technology and Operations, AllianceBernstein

 

Brian Ness, Chief Information Officer, Principal Global Asset Management

 

Kristina Theiss, Chief Operating Officer, Client Coverage Americas and Global Head of Client Data Management, DWS Group