A new report from State Street has found that many investment firms are moving slowly to embrace new technologies when compared to leading counterparts in their sector.

The study stated that firms who are successful with digital transformation are excelling in integrating their internal and external data; drawing new intelligence from IT to improve decision making, agility and client-centricity; and then safeguarding the data with the highest levels of cyber security.

The report characterised the firms slow to embrace new technologies as “digital laggards”, compared with their “digital leader” peers.

Some 64 per cent of leaders are applying robust cyber security measures to ensure data integrity, compared with 22 per cent of laggards. A further 63 per cent of leaders are harnessing data and analytics to improve decision making, compared with a quarter of laggards.

European firms have also identified a culture that encourages innovation and collaboration as the most important success criteria for digital transformation (35 per cent). Acquiring the right talent and technical knowledge was second (34 per cent), followed by organising a high performance digital team (29 per cent).

Lou Maiuri, head of State Street’s global markets and exchange businesses, explained: “Digital transformation is driving a seismic shift in the investment industry. The three I’s of data [integration, integrity and intelligence] enable financial leaders to develop highly personalised, data-driven products that appeal to a broader range of investors.”

The study surveyed more than 2,000 investors and 500 investment providers, comprising of companies from universal banks and mutual funds to alternative investment firms and FinTech startups.

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