In advance of the event, Delano connected with Christian Guertler, advisory partner at KPMG in Luxembourg. He moderates the “Improving value for investors: is drastic change needed for success?” panel, at 11:30am.

Aaron Grunwald: What do you want the audience to get most from the “Improving value for investors: is drastic change needed for success?” session?

Christian Guertler: “Value” is fundamentally different from “price.” We as an industry exist because investors need solutions that provide them with adequate financial returns at the right level of risk over a certain timeframe. In terms of pricing, it is not about offering cheaper services to clients; it is about constantly reinventing yourself to be more efficient and effective in serving clients changing demands and creating/adding value for them.

From your point of view, how can asset managers improve value for investors?

Asset managers must embrace innovation to find better investment solutions all the time. Although the classic investment fund has served us well, we need to rethink our approach to distribution, products and asset management, as well as operations, to stay relevant as an industry.

Is the cost of European funds too high?

No--not in relation to the value that is provided. Nevertheless, we should always strive to be as efficient as possible or someone else will replace us.

Aside from your own talk at the Alfi event, which session are you most looking forward to hearing, and why?

“Beyond crypto: Building trust and security into a digital future for traditional financial assets” [editor’s note: Tuesday 21 March at 12:20pm] because putting the bitcoin hype aside I am convinced that we are just seeing the beginning of the radical impact digital assets will have on the asset management ecosystem.