My Goal Is To Establish Coremars Asset Management as A Leader in Wealth Management” – Adetutu Awojobi, Head, institutional Sales, Coremars Asset management

ADETUTU Awojobi, the Head of Institutional Sales at Coremars Asset Management studied Banking and Finance at Covenant University, and capped it with a Master’s in Risk Management from the University of Lagos. After her youth service at UBA in 2012, she joined GTBank working in the Retail Banking division where she led the retail marketing teams in Ikoyi and Victoria Island.

When she left the bank in 2020, it was for Coremars Asset management, an asset and wealth management firm where she has been a key part of the management team and contributing immensely to the company’s profitability.

As the Head of Institutional Sales, she is responsible for developing and executing marketing strategies to sign on key accounts. She equally manages existing client relationships by providing exceptional customer services and investment advisory services. According to her, her goals for her department is to attain 100% customer satisfaction with all clients just as she wants to ensure the firm meets its financial targets. Most importantly, her goal is to establish Coremars Asset Management as a recognized leader inn wealth management in the country.

On those that have impacted her life the most, she said “My parents have always been my greatest influence, my late father always made us know the importance of a solid education and building capacity while my mother taught us the importance of financial independence as a woman”.

She believes women are often overlooked and underestimated in workplaces. To tackles this, she called on women to force themselves out of the existing stereotypes by providing themselves and delivering result wherever they work. “We must refuse to let ourselves be doormats in the workplace”, she stressed.

On the indelible experiences she had in the course of her career, Awojobi pointed out that she has had many but the one that sticks our were times when she exceeded her clients expectation, when she was able to find solution to her clients needs; and also when she received her promotion. In many firms she says, biases, competition, and evolving industry demands can present obstacles, but woman must be ready to stand firm and resilient and face the challenges with perseverance. Believing that resilience allows women to push through set backs so as t o seize leadership opportunities, she also changes then to be ready to embark on continuous growth if they must shake off gender biases.

“Taking every opportunity to build capacity whether through formal education, professional training, mentorship, or hands-on experience helps woman stay competitive and excel in their fields. Ultimately, the combination of resilience and continuous learning empowers women to break barriers, advance in their careers and contribute meaningfully to the workplace”. Awojobi reasoned.

The wealth management sub-sector worldwide is no doubt going through a transformative stage, with operations and activities moving from the traditional approach to a more sophisticated and technological approach with heavy reliance on data analytics and artificial intelligence for making decisions.

Artificial intelligence (AI), and particularly generative AI, has become popular in wealth management mainly because of its ability to reshape the entire customer journey, creating more personalised and efficient experiences for clients. Leading wealth management firms like Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Chase have continued to heavily leverage GenAI to curate customised customer experiences, analyse investment performances and make better investment decisions.

In Nigeria, the financial services sector has experienced significant technological advancements over the years. This is evident in the rapid influx of fintech firms into the country, with traditional banks and wealth management firms playing catch-up. Unfortunately, GenAI deployment in Nigeria has been rather slow due to several important factors, one of which is the high cost of deployment. GenAI solutions are quite expensive due to their ability to process complex data and run simulations in the shortest possible time. The cost implications would significantly impact operating costs and consequently profitability. It is no doubt that many wealth managers would require time to properly plan and budget for its deployment in their business. Other challenges identified are data privacy threats, legality of GenAI output and weak data foundations, especially in a country like Nigeria. Nevertheless, the rewards to be gained in customer experience, better-optimised operations and overall increase in profitability make it all worth it in the end.

Furthermore, over time, there has been the fear that advanced technologies like GenAI would slowly displace humans from their jobs. The reality of this concern is that GenAI has sought and continued to enable financial advisors to become more efficient professionals. Concerns about GenAI’s role are genuine, especially now when investors’ demand for human interaction is evolving; therefore, investment advisors must understand GenAI’s impact and learn to leverage it for long-term relevance. For instance, in 2023, Morgan Stanley launched a new internal AI assistant called AI @ Morgan Stanley Assistant which was designed to help Morgan Stanley financial advisors and support staff access and digest over 100,000 research reports. It is essentially a tailored compendium for finance professionals, designed to assist with answering questions about investment recommendations, general business performance, and internal processes (like completing specific applications). In a memo to Morgan Stanley staff, co-president Andy Saperstein said the AI assistant would “revolutionize client interactions, bring new efficiencies to advisor practices, and ultimately help free up time to do what you do best: serve your clients.”

A replica of AI @ Morgan Stanley Assistant, Moneyball, was launched in 2024 by American wealth management giant JP Morgan Chase. By analyzing 40 years of financial data, Moneyball identifies potential biases, such as the tendency to sell high-performing stocks prematurely and provides insights to improve investment strategies. This AI tool is designed to assist portfolio managers in making more informed investment decisions.

From curating customised customer experiences and optimising business processes to analysing complex investment/financial data and supporting financial advisors, GenAI has proven its usefulness in various functions of wealth management. One of the most important use cases of it in wealth management is client personalisation and profiling. With GenAI, wealth management firms can explore numerous ways to create customised experiences for their clients. By analysing key data inputs, GenAI can efficiently profile both existing and prospective clients, enabling the delivery of tailored services and personalised experiences. Market research and predictive analysis represent another important use case of GenAI. It can assess historical financial data and track market trends in real time, supporting more informed decision-making. By efficiently processing earnings reports, market signals, regulatory updates, and even social media content, AI ensures that no critical information is missed. Other use cases of GenAI include portfolio optimisation, ESG monitoring, fraud detection and security, all of which are critical components of modern wealth management.

In conclusion, GenAI is not merely a conceptual innovation but a vital tool for contemporary wealth management. It is important for asset/wealth management firms in Nigeria to prioritise the adoption of GenAI solutions to optimise their operations. This will enable financial advisers to operate more efficiently, allowing them to focus on critical tasks such as business growth and delivering exceptional customer service, rather than being burdened by monotonous tasks. Additionally, to address the risks associated with deploying GenAI, firms can adopt a multifaceted approach by involving representatives from risk, legal, compliance, IT, and cybersecurity in the initiative to ensure proper oversight and planning. Management teams can also develop a structured framework for selecting and adopting use cases, aligned with the business’ risk appetite and operational readiness.

Adetutu Awojobi, Head of Institutional Sales at Coremars Asset Management, has over 10 years of experience in banking, asset management, and financial planning. A Covenant University and University of Lagos alumna, she excels in client management, market research, and investment advisory services.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reaffirmed the capital market’s ability to fund the government’s development objectives by providing the required infrastructure.

Mr Lamido Yuguda, the Director-General of the Commission, revealed this when a team from the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) visited him, according to a statement released by the SEC management.

Yuguda reaffirmed the importance of the capital market in a country’s development by providing long-term money for infrastructure development.

What SEC is saying

• He said, ”Our collective economic power is bigger than the government and in many countries, you find out that the capital market is actually funding the government.
• He stated that the funds in the savings account can have multiple benefits beyond the interests payment. He said, ”When you save, the finance is used to create economic value that actually enhances your standard of living and this is a win-win.”
• ”You get financial returns and also get utility from the investments and this is actually achievable,” he added.
• Yuguda praised the NESG’s alliance, adding that both organizations will contribute more to the country’s economic progress.
• According to him, the fact that we are engaging with the NESG is a positive step because our policy environment is not favourable to the return of money to investors in many areas.
• Yuguda stated that the commission was dedicated to addressing the issue.
• Earlier, NESG’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Laoye Jaiyeola, emphasized the importance of passing the Investments and Securities Act in order to ensure that the country’s development needs are prioritized.

Source: https://nairametrics.com/2022/04/25/sec-says-captial-market-can-fund-the-government/

Retail investors can now purchase FG Bonds for as little as N5,000 thanks to the FGN bond’s design by the Debt Management Office, which caters to inexperienced, retail investors.

This was disclosed Mr Abiodun Fagbohun, the Chief Executive Officer of a stockbroking firm, who stated that the current arrangement was a departure from the past, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

FGN products were historically used by organizations like banks and pension fund administrators. Now, the Federal Government Securities Issuance Awareness Program, which is being run by DMO and CSL Stockbrokers Limited in different parts of the nation, encourages more Nigerians to diversify their investment portfolios by purchasing different Federal Government securities