Expertise: Data and Technology

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

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Data-Centric KPIs Enable Effective Management of Investment Performance Operations

Consider the irony… Performance departments exert their time and energy to calculate performance results that inform consumers of the impacts of their decisions on investments. Though Performance executes complex calculations and solves firm-wide data challenges for consumers’ benefit, oftentimes they forget to measure the most important performance of all… their own. This fourth installment of the Performance is Data Series explores exactly how Investment Performance teams can embark on a key performance indicator (KPI) centered approach to measure more than just the performance of others and introspectively assess operations.

by Clay Corcimiglia

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Natural Allies: Investment Performance and the Data Office

This paper proposes that Investment Performance was (and in many cases, is) the original Data Office where governance issues come to a head. If this logic is true, starting a Data Governance effort with Investment Performance takes advantage of a natural ally already positioned to solve those very problems. This natural alliance may be the most efficient mechanism to understand the strengths and weaknesses of an enterprise’s existing data strategy and potentially advance efforts to resolve them rapidly. Starting with that premise, this paper looks at how a new or revamped data governance program would benefit from either starting at the end of the investment value chain – Investment Performance – or by aligning the Data Office and Investment Performance under the Chief Data Officer (CDO). As many Meradia projects intersect Data and Investment Performance, this paper highlights the synergies and overlap between these functions.

by Laurie Hesketh, CIPM, PMP
Andrew Jacob, CFA

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Business Man Running With Media Device And High Tech Wireless | Meradia

Operational Transformations: A Data-Driven Approach

Firms are constantly in flux. Day-to-day challenges and the pressure to meet existing SLAs often take center stage in business operations. Expansion of business models, increased service alternatives, and new technology solutions are pushing firms to transform their existing paradigm. The concept of an optimal model seems to allure many. Pure ‘strategy-led’ transformations typically run into years and most benefits manifest at the long end of the spectrum. A data-driven approach mitigates many risks that extend or abandon transformations.

by Jose Michaelraj, CIPM, CAIA

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Modernizing Data Pipelines for meradia

From Complexity to Efficiency – Modernizing Data Pipelines

In the fast-paced world of investment asset management, accurate and timely data is crucial for informed decision-making. Data pipelines serve as metaphorical vehicles that facilitate the movement of data from its source to delivery points. Traditionally, investment asset management firms have relied on multiple pipelines for different data sources, resulting in complex and cumbersome processes. This paper explores the concept of modern data pipelines in investment asset management, their advantages over traditional pipelines, and best practices for their implementation.

by Andrew Jacob, CFA

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Investment Performance Is a Data Management Challenge

Investment Performance transformation projects are notoriously difficult. Why? Investment Performance is, at its core, an enterprise data function in disguise. Its role in enterprise data management is so prevalent that the maturity with which a firm’s Investment Performance function manages this data functions is typically a bellwether for the operational efficiency of the firm generally. Performance and analytics, done well, consume an astounding array of internal, external sources and often a combination of the two. In addition, you’ll be hard pressed to find any department in the firm that doesn’t want to consume its outputs and scrutinize its conclusions. Investment Performance transformations are difficult because they necessarily require evolution for the firm’s enterprise data assets and can impact nearly every department.

by Laurie Hesketh, CIPM, PMP

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The Cost of Reactive Controls

In today’s investment operations, errors are an unfortunate fact of life, and asset managers must have a comprehensive controls framework in place to manage them effectively. However, when an error occurs, the tendency for most firms is to react by implementing manual controls rather than taking a holistic approach to assessing their overall framework. This reactive approach can lead to an over-saturation of controls, resulting in lost productivity, increased costs, and an increased risk of human error. In this paper, we explore some of the hidden costs of manual controls and identify four key risks that firms should consider when implementing a new control.

by Jill Stassel, Senior Consultant

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Nine Trends Defining Financial Data Management in 2023 and Beyond

While it’s impossible to know exactly what to expect for the future of the data management and governance industry, research and experience combine to yield what we believe will be the top trends over the coming years. These trends will shape the technology, operations, and performance of nearly every firm in the investment industry in some way.

by Andrew Jacob, CFA, Senior Consultant

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4 Mistakes When Implementing a Data Catalog

Building and implementing a data glossary are two common goals for many investment firms in their annual strategy setting. But what happens when you rush into it without proper planning? Four common mistakes can occur which can hamper your development or make the final product irrelevant. This paper will discuss these missteps and offer prevention strategies.

by Andrew R. Jacob, CFA, Senior Consultant

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