French president Nicholas Sarkozy said: “Globalisation requires us to reinvent everything” and nowhere is this more relevant than in the world of financial services.

Recent CoreData client meetings on the ground in Europe and US, and via calls with clients in Latin America and Asia have seen reoccurring themes of globalisation and the growing role of emerging markets reappear over and over. And looking at the power shift taking place, one can understand why.

The economic data emanating from the emerging markets is infinitely more positive than that witnessed in the developed world. For example, although the United Nations lowered its outlook for Latin America’s regional growth to 4.4% this year, from 4.7%, it is still double the 2.2% growth forecast for the United States.

It is true that these developing nations have greater leaps to make and therefore should be expected to grow at a faster pace, but regardless, the difference is significant.

Several financial firms, including asset managers, asset servicers and custodians have a global client base. And these players want to gain a more granular understanding of their emerging market clients and the markets in which these clients operate.

There is a significant difference between knowing the investment opportunities within the emerging markets and having a deep knowledge of what the investors and players in those markets want and need. This is why financial firms that have a global view would benefit from getting down to the root of their emerging market clients’ behaviour to help anticipate their future requirements.

Furthermore, these global players have a bird’s eye-view of what clients in different markets are doing and a juxtaposition of these behaviours could prove to be very enlightening.

By and large, all the global asset managers are active in the emerging markets like India, China, Africa and Latin America. The appetite of the players in these markets differ to those based in Europe or the US and for a player in another part of the value chain, such as asset servicing, knowing what those nuances are can prove very valuable.

Asset managers, on the other hand, look at emerging markets both from the investment opportunity point of view, but also as prospective buyers of fund products. India, for example, is home to 1.21 billion people and the penetration of financial planning and investment is still relatively shallow. Hence, the opportunity is significant.

And although some asset managers may already be selling into some emerging economies, they can benefit from a clearer illustration of what these clients will want going forward and primary, on-the-ground research can help paint that picture.

CoreData has offices in London, New York, Beijing, Sydney and Manila. It also has associates in Buenos Aires and Cape Town. It is in the process of opening a Sao Paulo branch.