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Prior chapters in the Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) series explored the key challenges organizations face and the operational approaches they can take to support a TPA framework. The first two papers established the foundation by examining industry trends driving adoption of TPA and the architectural decisions required to enable it. The subsequent papers explored specific
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After-Tax Benchmarking: Developing an Industry Standard to Level the Playing Field
After-tax benchmarks are increasingly critical for evaluating investment performance for taxable investors. While after-tax portfolio returns are well defined under existing standards, the development of consistent, defensible after-tax benchmark methodologies has lagged, creating challenges for firms seeking to accurately measure tax-aware investment strategies. This paper introduces Meradia’s recommended approach to after-tax benchmarks using a Shadow
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Building Backwards: Delivering Total Portfolio Attribution, Analytics, and Liquidity
At its core, the Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) demands that firms consistently generate three outcomes: total portfolio attribution, integrated analytics, and forward-looking, total portfolio level liquidity forecasting. Together, these form the backbone of informed, portfolio-wide decision-making. Yet many asset owners struggle to produce these outputs in a way that is timely, coherent, and scalable across
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The Investment Data Behind a Total Portfolio Approach
The first paper in this series examined the questions executives inevitably face in the wake of major macroeconomic events: How quickly can we rebalance the portfolio to a new strategic posture without breaching liquidity, leverage, or regulatory constraints? How does a shift in emerging markets impact our portfolio over the next 24 hours? Despite the
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Meradia’s Playbook for a Successful FactSet Performance Solution Implementation
For many firms, implementing a modern performance platform such as FactSet Performance Solution is about more than replacing legacy tools. It is an opportunity to improve how performance data is produced, reviewed, and delivered across the organization. One of the key reasons for FPS is its fully customizable solution within a single system to meet
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Architecting for Total Portfolio Approach
“Architecture is about the important stuff. Whatever that is.” – Ralph Jophnson. While Strategic Asset Allocation (SAA) and Total Portfolio Approach (TPA) are both investment philosophies, they require fundamentally different architectures to support them. Most asset owners do not struggle because of the allocation approach they choose. They struggle because the systems, data structures, and design decisions
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Why Transformation Efforts Fail – Why Partnership and Trust Determine Success
Summary Organizations across the investment industry continue to spend tens of millions of dollars each year modernizing and optimizing operational processes, aiming to improve efficiency, enable growth, and support innovation. Yet despite sustained investment, many organizations struggle to realize the outcomes they expect. Recent research underscores the scale of the challenge. Studies published in 2024
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The Autonomy Trap: How Unchecked Autonomy Fragments Investment Operations
Many firms struggle with fragmented processes, duplicative efforts, and stalled transformation initiatives. What may seem like agility at the team level often creates hidden risks, rising costs, and significant barriers to scale. Enterprise solutions such as Total Portfolio View (TPV), Investment Book of Record (IBOR), and centralized analytics platforms are designed to unify organizations through
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2026 Trends: The Next Generation Operating Model – AI, Data, and Alpha at Scale
In 2026, the competitive gap in asset management will continue to widen between firms that industrialize data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) on cloud-native, interoperable architectures with embedded governance versus firms entrenched in legacy operating models and endlessly piloting on antiquated infrastructure. AI is THE multiplier: it amplifies strengths in clean, governed data, modular platforms, efficient processes, and exposes weaknesses in operating models, including data silos, manual ‘low value’ work, and unclear data ownership.
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System Conversion for a Global Custodial and Service Provider
Background A Global Service provider began a multi-phase implementation for a Global Investment manager to convert them onto their modern outsourced platform. The initiative aimed to enhance operational efficiency while fully supporting their clients increasingly complex global investment strategies. The Challenge Despite a clear strategic objective, the project quickly fell behind. During the initial rollout
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