Author: Meradia Consultant

Protect an Organizational Investment by Avoiding Common Mistakes During a System Conversion

Once an organization has decided on a new system, the conversion process follows. Large-scale system conversions are complex, time consuming and expensive; however, they are necessary for investment management companies to tackle sooner or later. Whether the system is a data management tool, portfolio accounting, performance, trading or reporting system, there are key steps an organization should take to ensure both a successful conversion and to avoid risks and pitfalls.
Each implementation is different, and many aspects come into play such as customization, resource availability, volume of data that needs to be converted and hardware requirements. Simply having a plan in place will not ensure success. This paper provides guidance on how to successfully navigate key aspects common to implementation projects.

by John E. Leavy, Principal

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Front Office Technology Transformation Projects Require a Specialized Project Management Approach

Technology transformation projects are inherently challenging – from determining how a specific firm compiles their data and technology, to innumerable decisions to be made, data files to validate, functionality to configure and test, to go-live events. When technology transformation projects impact front office teams, a highly specialized project management approach must be employed to minimize disruptions to uber time-sensitive front office revenue-generating productivity while keeping the project on schedule.
While the definition of ‘front office’ differs among organizations, here within the front office references a few distinct groups: Portfolio Management, Trading, Quantitative Analysts and Risk Managers. These front office groups fulfill critical roles involving time-sensitive initiatives. They represent investment management firms’ strategy and intellectual capital, and directly generate revenue for investment management firms. Their skills are the costliest; therefore, their time is at a premium. This paper shares the keys to executing this specialized, non-disruptive approach to managing front office technology transformation projects.

by Elizabeth M. Colebrooke, Principal

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Design Thinking: How to Integrate Creativity into Data-Driven Business

The financial services industry has always been required to embrace change, whether it be driven internally to control cost and sustain growth or driven externally to address and leverage market conditions. Given the rapidly evolving technology environment, volatile markets and globalization; companies are searching for ways to more successfully innovate to meet these challenges and take advantage of this environment by offering new products and services. To do this effectively, an organization must be able to understand customer needs, identify viable business and operating models and ensure their offering is technically possible and deliverable within the parameters of their risk profile.

By integrating a design thinking approach, organizations can more effectively consider the outcomes for the end users of their systems and processes. What will their experience be like? How do the systems and processes provide value to them? How do the deliverables solve their pain points and/or business needs?

by Daniel G. Foley, Principal

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Multi-Asset Class Investing

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

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Multi-Asset Class Investing

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

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 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

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Multi-Asset Class Investing

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

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 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

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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.

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