The concept of a Performance Book of Record (PBOR) has continued to evolve across the investment management industry. This paper, which was featured in the Journal of Performance Measurement, outlines the state of PBOR today and why it can help firms leverage enterprise data for future growth.
by Richard E. Mailhos, Principal and Investment Performance Practice Lead
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Has your outsource solution lived up to its expectations? Have real-world problems with integration and the production environment simply shifted bottlenecks or errors to new areas? Key operational components and workflows are the lifeblood of any large organization. But when decisions to outsource were made years or even decades ago, the criteria becomes dated and inapplicable. Don’t overlook these three signs it’s time to re-evaluate your outsource solution.
by Benjamin P. Smith, Client Partner…
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In a previous post, we highlighted how niche consulting firms can provide meaningful business value over larger entities. But when you’ve decided to hire a niche provider, how do you go about evaluating your options? Let’s uncover ways to vet the landscape.
by Jose R. Michaelraj, CIPM, CAIA, Senior Consultant…
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As the famous author Oscar Wilde once said, “The answers are all out there, we just need to ask the right questions.”
This concept can be applied to the broad world of consulting. All consulting firms, regardless of size, are tasked with fulfilling a client’s business objective. They provide requisite guidance and pertinent information at critical decision-making points. However, in a crowded market with many options to choose from, how can you be certain you have the best consultant for the job? It comes down to asking the right questions and understanding your needs. Here, we explore the unique value-add of a niche consulting firm.
by Jose R. Michaelraj, CIPM, CAIA, Senior Consultant
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The most effective system implementations start by establishing a proof of concept (POC) to validate a vendor’s ability to support your requirements and highlight areas where custom solution design may be required. A key component of a successful POC is a clearly defined scope that identifies the types of scenarios, number of portfolios, goals and criteria for completion. Yet we see time and time again firms overlook this element. Here are four key steps to establish a thoughtful POC scope that will allow your implementation to go off without a hitch.
by Nicol S. O’Connor, Senior Consultant
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Picture this: The monthly performance report has just been received, but it’s missing some data. No errors were generated, yet the blank section on the output indicates something went wrong. The analyst sends a message to IT to report the error, and this starts the Easter egg hunt for the issue.
How many times has this happened to you or your colleagues? Whether you rely on a large single vendor, multi-purpose platform or multiple integrated systems, I’d be willing to speculate it’s a common occurrence. Beyond tracking down today’s Easter egg, how can we avoid the problem in the future or remedy our existing platforms?
by Christopher D. Sadala, Senior Consultant
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Finding a vendor to solve a business need is often treated as an analytical task – pick one that checks the most boxes and provides the biggest “bang for the buck.” However, several other factors should feed this decision. Vendor selection is not only about choosing the right platform, but also about picking the right partner who closely fits the firm’s culture and offers complementary services. Often, organizations find themselves in a precarious situation when extensive analyses conducted over several months do not yield decisive outcomes. Here are three ways to accelerate the process and reach a viable option.
by Christine (Tina) M. Madel, CFA, Principal
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LISTEN TO THE MUSIC
Have you ever been to JazzFest in New Orleans? If not, I highly recommend it: ten or more stages – zydeco, jazz, blues, rock, country, gospel, African, krewes, big names, local names – all playing at the same time. The problem is: standing in the middle, program in hand, faint music coming from all directions, people celebrating – what’s your choice going to be?
Each listener has a different strategy, but I’ll tell you what absolutely no one does: send out multi-page questionnaires in advance to each and every band asking them about their style, instrumentation, influences, playlist, recording history, etc. Nobody RFP’s JazzFest.
by Mark R. David, CFA…
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Spreadsheets are one of the most powerful tools used by companies today, yet one of the most dangerous in common use across organizations. This paper details the risks and ways to mitigate them.
by Mick Cartwright, CIPM, Managing Director…
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During an era when critical skills are in short-supply and valuable IT and business personnel spend most of their working hours in meetings, consultants can make the meaningful difference between a project’s success or failure. The right consultant brings diverse skills, broad perspectives and an understanding of both business and technology. In addition, consultants are best positioned to contribute in a way seldom possible by others since they can apply focus and attention to the task at hand – something that is difficult for full time employees to do when they are juggling competing demands and BAU tasks. This article:
• delves into business problems prevalent in many investment management firms, especially in vendor product evaluations and implementations;
• deals with how an outside consultant can play a significant, contributory role; and
• leverages a practical use case to demonstrate key benefits and tangible results delivered by a Meradia consultant who moved an almost failing project to a successful outcome.
by Jose R. Michaelraj, CIPM, Senior Consultant
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