The wealth management space is a pretty niche segment of the financial industry . Couple that with digital , which right now is one of the more popular areas of IT and technology , and what I ’ m doing with the company is going deeper and deeper into the cross-section between financial institutions , and technology ,” says Ronald Fung , Chief Digital Officer at Noah Holdings .

Noah is currently undergoing a digital transformation , implementing new technology and innovation to better understand and ultimately better serve its customers . Fung was brought into Noah in 2017 to oversee this transformational journey , bringing with him significant experience working in the financial technology space . It is this experience that provided Fung with a greater understanding of how technology and the role of digital has grown significantly over the last decade . “ In the past , the role of IT has always been more of a back office one , with a focus on process automation and making things cheaper , faster and more efficient ,” he says . “ Over the last 10 years , technology has actually moved right to the point in which it now reaches out to customers directly .

“ Nowadays in the financial sector , you cannot split between whether technology is a supporting tool or the driver of the business itself .”

Historically , wealth management has been a predominantly very human , face to face-oriented industry . That human interaction has always come first , with data collection and technology coming second .

Fung ’ s role as Chief Digital Officer provides him with two core objectives for Noah .

90 April 2018