info@meradia.com
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
Read Full Article
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
Read Full Article
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
Read Full Article
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
Read Full Article
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
Read Full Article
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
Read Full Article
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.
Read Full Article
Facing the Challenges of Mergers and Acquisitions
With one in six asset managers expected to be acquired or go out of business in the next five years, preparing for M&A activities is crucial for success. It’s important to consider each option’s potential benefits and challenges and to carefully evaluate whether M&A activities align with your firm’s goals and values. However, these processes can have significant challenges, including cost management, personnel, and legal and regulatory issues. Jonathan Boersma, CFA’s latest article, “Facing the Challenges of Mergers and Acquisitions”, explores these challenges and provides considerations for mitigating them.
by Jonathan Boersma, CFA
Read Full Article
Maximizing Value In Asset Management: A Closer Look At Insourced Operations
INVESTMENT OPERATIONS IS AN ASSET, NOT A LIABILITY What is the role of investment operations in asset management? Should asset managers insource, outsource, or use managed services? The decision is a difficult one. Discussions around modern target operating models and how to utilize investment operations have highlighted the benefits of outsourcing middle and back-office functions.
Read Full Article
Revolutionize Investment Operations With AI-Driven Data Catalogs
Are you looking to stand up or revise a data catalog? Is understanding your data one of your company’s goals or principles? Understanding the full scope of your data involves a top-down understanding and a bottom-up inventory. This provides valuable insights into your current state to enable multiple efforts to be launched at your firm, but who has the time? The new methodology developed using AI technology and industry expertise reduced the time and client resources required to inventory data and stand up a catalog to a fraction of the normal amount. In this paper, we share the methodology and tools to help you achieve your firm’s goals both effectively and efficiently.
by Andrew Jacob, CFA, Senior Consultant
Kevin Coffin, CIPM, Zengines, Head of Customer Success