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In the ever-evolving landscape of financial services, the industry is increasingly adopting the approach of acquisitions and advanced technological integration. These trends, driven by a multitude of factors, have profound implications for the industry by altering the strategies and resources required for success in the market. Factors to Consider During Consolidation in Financial Services MARKET
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Enhancing Efficiency in Corporate Actions for OTC Derivatives
INTRODUCTION Every time a portfolio manager says, “What do you mean I can’t do that?” a new derivative type is born. I’m half kidding, there are undoubtedly robust regulations to attempt to limit irresponsible decisions from having an outsized impact on the market, but when red tape or cost gets in the way of something
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Mastering the Ripple Effect: Key Strategies to Navigate Financial Transformation Challenges
In the financial industry, the sales process can evoke excitement, apprehension, and optimism, often fueled by the promise of change and new innovative solutions. However, the path to lasting success is fraught with potential challenges that, if not addressed early, can create a significant ripple effect. It’s never too late to tackle these transformational challenges, but the earlier you address them, the smaller you can make your ripple. By focusing on three pivotal stages—the sales process, implementation, and post-go-live, you can mitigate risks, reduce the size of your ripple, and ensure a smooth transition into everyday business operations.
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Unlocking GIPS® Compliance Benefits for Asset Owners
Introduction For asset owners, the investment performance function effectively serves the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and Risk, both of whom have a vested interest in overseeing and optimizing the fund’s total performance and maintaining a cross-asset class view. The lack of access to complete and reliable data from asset class silos can hinder cross-firm evaluations
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Migrating from Internal Data Stores to Cloud-Based Data Vaults: An Exploration
Organizations are increasingly migrating from traditional, internal data storage systems to more dynamic, cloud-based data vaults. This transition is crucial for businesses looking to leverage the vast potential of big data in a modern, data-driven environment. With platforms like BNY Mellon’s Data Vault, State Street Alpha Data Platform, JP Morgan Fusion, and several others, enterprises
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Cash Drag or Collateral-Derived Alpha: The Choice Is Yours
Generating alpha is hard enough, so why let cash drag stifle returns? With derivative-laden portfolios in a high-interest rate environment, collateral presents opportunity to improve returns. The decade-long period of low-interest rates created detrimental habits with a default cash collateral model. Asset owners face challenges in diversifying collateral beyond cash due to existing infrastructure that
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Meradia’s 2024 Industry Outlook
As we conclude the first quarter of 2024, the financial services industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace, driven by transformative technologies with potential to reshape investment operations. At Meradia, we anticipate a dynamic year will continue to unfold, characterized by innovation, regulatory shifts, and strategic opportunities. Reflecting on discussions with my team and
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Secrets to Successful Data Transformation Strategies
The financial industry is witnessing a transformational ‘tidal wave’ of change, with vendors exerting a gravitational pull on the front office, providing integrated data and applications while asset servicing providers absorb post-trade, middle, and back-office operations. Generative AI, NLP, and machine learning demonstrate near limitless application and use opportunities. Competition for assets and consistency in
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Data Mesh – Investment Industry Trend or Unicorn?
Recently, we attended a financial data industry event and listened to one company after another share their experiences in their data governance and management journey. That day, we learned that only a few had moved forward with a data mesh save for leaders in the industry. Those leaders shared their implementation stories, and we will share this question with you. What came to our minds at the time was whether Data Mesh was a unicorn in the investment industry. Is the self-service data platform a myth or a reality? With that question in mind, we spoke to several firms at the gathering and interviewed others afterward to learn about the data mesh ‘state of the union’ in the investment industry.
by Andrew Jacob, CFA
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UAT for Performance Transformations Is Notoriously Difficult. It Doesn’t Need To Be.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) can throw projects into a frustrating and mind-numbing stall, which is catastrophic to any transformation. The terror of botching a go-live event with insufficient data commonly leads users into a frenzy of checking, double-checking, approving, re-checking, and reapproving. As the process repeats across test cases, progress toward user confidence seems negligible.
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