Page 15 – Meradia

Transformation Challenges Facing Insurance Investment Operations

The operations arms of Insurance Investment Managers are experiencing increased activity. With challenges mounting from increased customer expectations, a challenging regulatory environment, and a divergence in the quality and quantity of data between front and back offices; Insurance Investment Managers are looking for new solutions. The software landscape is quickly evolving as the impetus for change has reached critical mass.

During the past two decades, we’ve observed many investment managers, including insurance companies, painfully and expensively deploy human capital rather than address technology gaps to solve their operational challenges. Failure to keep applications and related infrastructure current drives up costs. As firms seek change, experienced resources can dramatically improve outcomes.

by Laurie J. Hesketh, CIPM, PMP, Managing Director

Pension Fund Performance and Risk Analytics Assessment

BACKGROUND Meradia’s client, a superannuation* fund manager in Australia, needed accurate, timely and consistent data fit for their analytic requirements. Historically, the operations team generated Performance from raw custodial files. While a substantial portion of the assets are externally managed, the futures, FX and cash portfolios – representing major exposures – are managed and traded […]

Performance Implementation for Large Insurance Company

BACKGROUND A Fortune 500 company’s asset management division retained Meradia to help facilitate the conclusion of a challenging implementation of and conversion to SS&C’s Sylvan Global Performance Measurement and Risk platform. Meradia provided portfolio accounting, performance measurement and testing expertise and identified and troubleshooted errors hindering progress. Issues impacting Sylvan, the data flows, defined acceptance […]

Multi-Asset Class Investing: Part 3 – Knitting Together an Attribution

Meradia has observed a strong uptick in activity around Multi-Asset Class (MAC) investment products and strategies. We see managers across the globe expanding current MAC offerings and introducing new ones; consequently, generating demand for new support around analytic methodologies, data, and technology.

This series explores our view of the multi-asset class phenomenon in depth, from origins to solutions. In our first installment, we looked at market and industry trends that seem to be driving the evolution of MAC toward more sophisticated strategies. In the second, we examined characteristics and methods of MAC managers that raise the bar, relative to traditional investment processes. In our final entry, we’ll examine some real-world solutions to the puzzle presented by attribution in a MAC framework. Given the inherent – indeed, intentional – disparity among the factors driving risk and return of these classes, how do we design and present an attribution methodology that accurately and meaningfully illustrates the manager’s MAC process?

by Mark R. David, CFA, Director of Performance, Risk & Analytics

Multi-Asset Class Investing: Part 2 – Meeting the Process Challenge

This series explores our view of the MAC phenomenon in depth, from origins to solutions. In our first of three installments, we looked at market and industry trends that seem to be driving the evolution of MAC toward more sophisticated strategies and methods. In this second installment, we examine the MAC investment process itself: What are the methods and practices that successful MAC managers employ, and how do these distinguish MAC from more traditional approaches?

by Mark R. David, CFA, Director of Performance, Risk & Analytics

Multi-Asset Class Investing: Part 1 – Forces Behind a Trend

This series explores our view of the MAC phenomenon in depth, from origins to solutions. In this first of three installments, we look at market and industry trends that seem to be driving the evolution of MAC towards more sophisticated strategies and methods.

by Mark R. David, CFA, Director of Performance, Risk & Analytics

Investment Accounting Systems: Keeping up with Ever-evolving Insurance Statutory Requirements

Investment accounting is an ever-changing process, especially for insurance companies and publicly traded insurers. Statutory accounting regulations (STAT) from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and accounting rules from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) for generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have been rapidly and broadly changing reporting requirements in response to riskier investment types, new investment categorizations, and changes in accounting rules. Flexibility within investment accounting systems is more critical than ever.

Rules are written or modified annually for investment accounting, which puts pressure on insurance companies to quickly implement new procedures and support systems to remain compliant. Enlisting Meradia’s expertise in evaluating your current state, defining your target state, vendor selection, conversion, and implementation can help you successfully navigate through this dynamic environment.

End-to-End Process Evaluation for Service Provider

BACKGROUND A leading global provider of integrated solutions for institutional asset managers engaged Meradia to document operating procedures. As a service vendor to the industry this firm was asked by existing clients, sales prospects and regulatory bodies to provide comprehensive documentation to substantiate business practices as part of due diligence exercises. Existing documentation was fragmented, […]

Operational Assessment for Multi-Family Office

BACKGROUND Meradia was retained by a family office to assess their investment application stack, organizational design and operational processes. Like many investment management firms, the company had grown over time and had come to realize it was time to take a holistic review of their organically grown patchwork of systems and overall operating model that […]

Accounting RFP for Multi-Family Office

BACKGROUND Meradia was retained by a multi-family office to assess their investment application stack, organizational design and operational processes. Like many investment management firms, the company had grown over time and their system stack had become patchworked, resulting in an operating model that had become overly manual and inefficient. Our initial assessment determined that most […]