Data manager

By Julian Rogers, Deputy Editor

The explosion in data management in recent years has prompted a handful of banks to sculpt a new C-Level executive position to cope with the increased demands. As Chief Data Officer (CDO) of JPMorgan Worldwide Securities Services, Peter Serenita says he needs to “live and breathe” data in his role.

FST. Can you give an overview of JPMorgan’s focus on data management and why the company took the decision to create the position of Chief Data Officer ¬– a rare title in your industry and the business world as a whole?
PS. JPMorgan is one of the few financial services firms to have a Chief Data Officer. At JPMorgan, the CDO role is an evolution and not a revolution. Reference data has been a priority for a number of years. Earlier, there was a role called the business information manager and we also had a working group that stretched across the enterprise called the Information Architecture Working Group; that subsequently got elevated to the Enterprise Information Council. As you can see, data has been on the forefront and we specifically focused on the areas of shared data across the businesses so that we could agree on definitions and standards.

Creating the CDO role took this to the next level. It showed that it was a senior position and that it has the right focus across the organisation. In Worldwide Securities Services (WSS) the data management practices began a number of years ago with the GMRD (Global Markets Reference Data) programme. This was an effort to consolidate and centralise the management of securities reference data holistically and consistently across WSS. We continue to expand and grow that programme and build on its success.

FST. In your opinion what are the key skills that a so-called ‘data czar’ should possess?
PS. The key skills of a data czar are cross-discipline. First of all, it always starts with the business. The person needs to have good business focus, be able to understand the business priorities and ensure that the clients come first. They also need to be able to see the big picture and connect all of the dots to understand how everything comes together. In addition they need to possess an attention to detail and understand how the data interacts with the business and the clients at a very detailed level. I would also say that practical experience is a must; you have to live and breathe the data so that there is an appreciation for the criticality of the data, any pain points and how it can be a business enhancer for our clients.

My previous role at JPMorgan was as head of a global operations and technology group, responsible for reference data. That position gave me extensive practical and day-to-day experience. It required me to focus on what some of the obstacles might be and how to overcome them. But as CDO my role is far more strategic.

Operations and process skills are also key. You need to understand how data is produced and managed, as well as the areas of control, efficiency and quality. You also need to understand technology and how to optimise the movement of data across the different technologies and applications to service the business. One would also expect information and data skills – how to analyse information needs and information content. Last and by no means least, you need to have interpersonal and influence skills to manage the programme across the different businesses.

FST. Does being one of just a few CDO’s in the financial services sector today give you any added pressure?
PS. Having been one of the few named in the industry it certainly has gained a lot of focus. However, that being said, data management itself is a very complex problem, which is why this position was created. It is a cross-functional role. You cannot solve the problem solely with technology – it requires work across the different disciplines (business, operations and technology) to provide a holistic solution.

In fact, if you look within our organisation you won’t see a very large data management programme in terms of number of people. We believe in a thin layer, which has all of the strategies and the roadmap, which is my responsibility. The actual execution of each of the projects, that together make the programme, live in the technology and operations groups that support the business. The CDO has a clear oversight responsibility but we make sure that the execution and accountability for those programmes sits squarely in the operations and technology that support the business.

FST. How important is data management to JPMorgan, as well as the financial services industry as a whole? How has the importance of data to the industry intensified over the past ten years?
PS. A couple of things have changed over that timeline. If you think about how clients used to receive their data. In the past companies could hide their processes or inconsistency because they would provide the data to the client and it would look consistent. But now with more and more online access, more and more sophisticated clients and more and more cross-product relationships, the quality and consistency of the data is far more visible to the clients. Consistent, timely and accurate data is key. The bar has been raised in order to service our clients and give them the information they need to do their business.

If you think about our business, we are the operations and technology groups for a number of our clients. We are basically an extension of their business model. So for us there is full transparency to our operations capability, our technology and the data that we provide. That is why data management is such a key role or attribute in our ability to service them.

FST. How has anti-money laundering (AML) legislation and the consequences of Sarbanes-Oxley and Know Your Customer (KYC) impacted on the way that the institutions handle and store data effectively?
PS. AML, SOX, KYC and all of the regulations that financial services need to abide by clearly have raised the visibility of data management practices. It has placed specific requirements on companies in terms of what they need to do in order to conform. I would say that companies that have good data management practices find conforming to these regulations far easier to achieve. It falls in very nicely with the way that data is managed for the business purposes so it is a case of taking the similar requirements and being able to satisfy those for the regulators.

FST. How does technology play its part in your operations?
PS. At JPMorgan we use technology as an enabler. If you think about the way that data needs to be viewed – it starts with the clients and their requirements and needs and how we service them. We build an operating model with a global view that allows ease of access to our clients. Technology is an enabler but what I would stress is that it is not the starting point – the starting point goes back to the clients, and the systems and technology groups are enablers to that programme.

FST. What sort of challenges is JPMorgan faces in terms of data management today?
PS. Like a number of financial institutions, JPMorgan is the result of a number of mergers. The challenge has been to converge the information – the operating practices, processes and the technology – so that we can provide that consistent view of information to our clients. At JPMorgan we have consolidated a number of operations, converged our information, as well as our technology to support these data domains. As reference data is a foundational component of all the businesses I would say that it is not a quick task but it requires a lot of what I call ‘heavy lifting’. It takes a lot of work, however, it is a necessary plan; to converge and get consistency of the information, the operations and the technologies to support the business. That then puts us in a position to continue to grow our business.

FST. With that in mind, how would you go about getting your head around the masses of information that needs to be consolidated following a merger?
PS. We have had some experience in this but it doesn’t mean that it is easy. It starts at understanding the data requirements and coming to an agreement on what data needs to be converged. It then goes into how we converge the information definitions as well as the technology, operations and management around it. It’s a three-pronged effort and clearly having a strategic data management programme gives you the leg up on getting that work done.

FST. Security is of a major concern for the banks, and for customer too. How seriously does JPMorgan take the issue of protecting sensitive data? Could some banks do more in this area?
PS. JPMorgan clearly takes the security of sensitive data very seriously. We have a Chief Privacy Officer and we have clear policies defined to ensure that we are protecting our sensitive data. We also have a central group – the IT Risk Management (ITRM) group as well as risk management in each of the businesses responsible for implementing and conforming to these policies. It is all the way from a corporate effort at the highest level, all the way into the actual businesses themselves. The clear accountability and policies are in place to make sure that we protect our clients.

FST. Where do you foresee the area of data in, say, the next two to three years? What will this mean for JPMorgan and do you predict that more companies will appoint dedicated data officers?
PS. I think the bar will continue to be raised. I think that data will continue to receive focus in the industry in a number of different avenues. Our clients will continue to demand better quality data but also data on a more instantaneous basis. In order to satisfy our clients’ needs and put us ahead of the curve we definitely need to have good practices in place at the ground level. We also continue to work with the industry to develop standards because it is through these standards that we will be able to exchange information in the marketplace a lot cleaner. This will continue to benefit our clients. I think we will still continue to see centralisation as well as focus in the industry around data officers and that will continue to be driven by the client needs.

As said earlier, JPMorgan is one of the first firms to create a CDO title. Having recognised the focus on data as a key business enabler and driver. We do have very aggressive business growth plans and in order to achieve that we view data as one of the enablers to make that happen. Without a good data management programme or good automation, expanding the business will require a lot of investment in terms of people and manual processes.