Profile
Rehan holds a Bachelors of Engineering Degree in Computer and Information Systems from N.E.D., Karachi, has an MBA (Finance) from IoBM, Karachi, and is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP), Information Security Manager (CISM – Qualified), and in ITIL v3 (Foundation), COBIT (Foundation), ISO 270001 – Lead Implementer Credentials, and Claritas under the CFA Association. As Chief Technology Officer at UBL Fund Managers Limited, he has successfully lead the team that developed a number of internal software systems, external online portals for convenience of customers, and, most recently, the first smartphone app created by any asset management company in Pakistan so that customers of UBL Funds can access their information and transact directly from their smartphones!
- How has your experience been so far with UBL Fund Managers?
UBL Funds is one of the largest asset management companies of the country. Similar to its parent company, United Bank Limited, it has established a strong brand name, and this is all because of the hard working people employed here. I am fortunate that UBL Funds is quite tech savvy and understands the importance of IT and how it can be a base for its growth. With the authority to bring innovation and always opting for new challenges, my experience has been marvelous so far.
- How important do you feel technology is in the Mutual Funds Industry in Pakistan?
A business exists in the market for value generation, be it a profit or not-for-profit organization. To gain a competitive advantage over its rivals, a company must either perform its activities at a lower cost or perform them in a way that leads to differentiation and a premium price (more value). Information Technology is the best catalyst for improving the business value chain. So, technology is inevitable for any business on earth.
For Mutual Funds in Pakistan, it’s even more important, as investment returns are more or less within acceptable range for most customers, but the differentiating factor is convenience, transparency, outreach, and value added services.
A majority of the target market of Mutual Funds has access to Internet, Smartphones, 3G and 4G, hence reaching this target market, servicing them, and delighting them depends on the way Asset Management Companies make use of technology.
We, at UBL Funds, consider Information Technology our front runner in providing convenience to customers, ensuring lowest possible transaction turnaround times while at the same time delivering operational excellence to the business.
- Can you tell us about the UBL Funds Smart Savings mobile application?
UBL Funds Smart Savings App is a convenient and easy application, giving clients access to their investment account anytime, anywhere. With its easy to use interface and design, clients can check their investment portfolio, make conversion and redemption transactions round the clock and update their profile information. The Smart Savings app also gives details on the latest UBL Fund prices, keeping customers updated for all their investment needs.
This is the first Smartphone app in the asset management industry in Pakistan. We are proud to be the pioneers of this application in the mutual funds industry here.
We are also proud winners of the PASHA ICT Awards-2015 for ‘Best in Service Innovation’. The P@SHA ICT Awards, the flagship event of Pakistan’s IT & ITES industry, aims to provide recognition to software and service applications that have been developed in Pakistan, by providing companies an opportunity to gain local, regional and international exposure.
- Will you be incorporating new features in the app moving forward?
We firmly believe that with the penetration of 3G and 4G services there will be a prominent shift from web/online based services to app based services. Therefore we already have very exciting features lined up for our award winning mobile app which we’ll be rolling out across the year in 2017.
We would like to keep the features a surprise for our customers and to a certain extent our competitors but we are confident that these innovations will disrupt the Mutual Funds market in Pakistan.
We also plan to serve the unbanked segment of the society using Financial Inclusion technologies and innovations in partnership with prominent market players.
- You recently won the CIO 100 Award. Please tell us about your experience and journey which led to the prestigious CIO 100 awards?
The CIO 100 is an international award that honors 100 organizations and CIOs around the globe every year who have distinguished themselves by creating business value and competitive advantage through the innovative use of technology.
It means a lot to UBL Fund Managers and me that we have been recognized amongst the Top 100 technology innovators and leaders by an International organization. The CIO 100 award is a dream come true for me as a technology professional. UBL Fund Managers is the only organization from Pakistan which was featured in the awards alongside international giants like Accenture, AT&T, Intel, HP, Dell, General Motors, MIT, Samsung, UBS and Wells Fargo.
It was a proud moment for me when my name was announced at the event and I saw the hall full of technology professionals from USA who were cheering for Pakistan and UBL Fund Managers.
It was a pleasant surprise to realize that even the progressive countries in the world are not providing the sort of innovative technological services and products that we are providing to our customers here in Pakistan.
- Moving forward, how do you feel technology should be implemented in the Asset Management Industry in Pakistan?
I am a firm believer of efficient, straight-through-processing by empowering the customer via transparent and secure touchpoints. I foresee that Asset Management Companies would converge to a point where they would collaborate to empower customers on the one hand while competing solely on core business activities like Investment Management.
I would urge all industry participants to join hands in making the markets more efficient, effective and transparent via technology innovations and integrations so that customers of the Mutual Funds Industry come out as winners at the end. By ensuring that customers win we will be able to generate the necessary levels of economic activity that would directly or indirectly deliver value to the industry.
- What are your future plans for UBL Funds?
After ensuring that we make technology a sustainable competitive advantage for UBL Funds, we are now on the move to create new markets for UBL Fund Managers using technological innovation. We call it Investments 2.0.
Investments 2.0 is a strategy from UBL Funds technology organization to remain at the forefront of business rather than merely being a business support function. This strategy entails expanding UBL Funds’ customer base exponentially using technological innovation, and we have two large scale projects currently underway which we would love to share once they are launched.
