In the latest episode of State of the Art, Reseo’s podcast on innovation, regulation and trust in investment management, host Pierre-Yves Rahari speaks with Heidi Gunkel, Managing Director and Head of Client Experience at RBC BlueBay Asset Management, about why onboarding has become one of the most critical and fragile moments in the investor relationship.
This article looks at how rising expectations are reshaping investor experience, why onboarding is now a competitive differentiator, and how firms can rethink their operating models in an era of global financial crime
Onboarding as the First Real Test
Servicing, onboarding and operations were brought together to support investors across Europe and APAC throughout the life of the relationship. The ambition is simple to describe, but harder to deliver the entire client journey from the first email to the last day.
Within that journey, onboarding stands out as the first real proof point. It is the moment when the manager stops pitching and starts asking questions; when documents are exchanged, risk appetites are probed, and working styles are exposed. Heidi calls it the “honeymoon phase” because both sides are getting to know each other and forming impressions that will last.
If the process feels smooth, transparent and respectful of the client’s time, it creates confidence. If it is slow, opaque or repetitive, that frustration lingers. Because investors compare experiences across providers, any perceived delay or additional request is quickly challenged: Why is this firm asking for more than others? In that sense, onboarding has become far more than a compliance requirement. It is a competitive arena in which managers are judged not only on performance, but on how easy they are to do business with.
Complexity at the Most Delicate Moment
The challenge is that this “honeymoon phase” now coincides with a period of unprecedented regulatory complexity. AML and KYC rules have tightened globally, with European frameworks layered on top of local interpretations, ESG-related disclosures and fund-specific requirements. The direction of travel is clear: More scrutiny, more documentation, more expectations on firms to know their clients and the sources of their capital.
Most institutional onboarding journeys span several jurisdictions. A London-based asset manager may be offering a Luxembourg or Irish UCITS to an investor in North America, Asia or continental Europe. Each of those locations brings its own rules, norms and supervisory expectations. It is common to have two or three regulatory regimes involved in a single relationship, just at the point when the parties are still learning to work together.
This is also where the ecosystem nature of modern fund structures becomes obvious. In a pooled fund, the asset manager is only one actor amongst many. Administrators, transfer agents and management companies all play their part in the onboarding process. The client receives a substantial information pack and then enters a back-and-forth with the administrator, while the manager tries to support the relationship. The starting point is clear, the end point, less so. An account may open in a few days, or take weeks or months, depending on the structure of the client and the assessment of beneficial ownership.
For investors, this can feel like a series of disconnected hurdles rather than a coherent journey. For managers, it is a situation in which they own the relationship but not the infrastructure, and that tension sits at the heart of many onboarding frustrations.
The Experience Gap: What Technology Promises and What It Delivers
Outside work, most investors are used to seamless digital experiences. They open bank accounts on their phones, sign documents electronically, track deliveries in real time and rarely must enter the same information twice. Against that backdrop, institutional fund onboarding can feel very frustrating.
Heidi’s vision of a better model is straightforward: A single digital front door through which the investor uploads documents, signs forms, monitors progress and later accesses reporting and servicing tools. Behind that front end, the administrator and other service providers can do their work, but the investor’s interaction remains simple and unified. In an ideal world, she suggests, the client would not need to know who the administrator is at all.
The reality in most organisations is patchier. Different parties use different systems. Workflows are not always connected end-to-end. Status updates can be hard to obtain and even harder to interpret. The result is that friction accumulates in precisely the place where clients expect clarity and ease.
Technology can address a large part of this, but only if firms are willing to make coordinated choices. Shared workflow tools that span asset managers and administrators, well-designed portals that present a single view to clients, and smarter use of data to avoid asking for information that is already publicly available can all reduce the burden. Heidi believes technology could realistically cover much of the heavy lifting, leaving people to focus on judgement, nuance and communication. But that requires agreement across the ecosystem, not just within a single firm.
Moments That Matter and Walkaway Moments
One of the walkaway moments is the AML/KYC phase during onboarding. If the investor experiences repeated, poorly explained requests for documentation or feels that the left hand and right hand of the organisation are not coordinated, the damage is difficult to repair. Another point is reporting accuracy later in the relationship: A single error might be forgiven, but repeated mistakes with the same client can be decisive.
The lesson is not that every element of the client journey can be perfect, but that some moments carry far greater weight than others. Firms that invest in understanding these pressure points and in redesigning processes, systems and responsibilities around them are more likely to build resilient, long-term relationships.
A Question for Boards: How Easy Are We to Deal With?
Looking three to five years ahead, Heidi expects to see more integrated portals, more consistent global processes and better use of workflow tools, particularly among larger managers with the scale to invest. Smaller firms may find it harder to keep up with both regulatory expectations and technology demands. Client experience cannot be left solely to the sales teams. AML/KYC analysts, operations, trade support, administrators and governance bodies all contribute to how a client experiences the firm.
For Boards and senior leaders, that means framing client experience as a strategic and measurable question, not just a soft concept. One question, in particular, should be asked regularly: How easy is it to do business with us? The answer should increasingly be based on data and structured feedback, rather than anecdotes.
In a world where financial crime is global, regulation is tightening and investors have more choice than ever, ease of doing business is no longer a nice-to-have. It is becoming a defining feature of trust.
Click here to listen to the full podcast based on this article.
