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The ISDA & SIFMA AMG Collateral and Liquidity Management Conference brought together industry leaders to discuss the evolving landscape of collateral management, liquidity, and regulatory compliance. Conversations centered on the impact of treasury clearing, the need for resilient collateral strategies, and the knowledge gaps in repo collateral management. The consensus? Firms must embrace automation, efficiency,
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Achieving Clarity Through a Total Fund View
The Challenge of Limited Visibility Leadership is difficult even in ideal conditions. Now imagine stepping in as a new Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at a pension fund or endowment, tasked with overseeing all asset classes, only to discover that visibility into total fund exposures is fragmented, delayed, or buried across disparate systems. CIOs and investment
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InvestOps USA 2025: Key Takeaways on Transformation, Outsourcing, and the AI Reality Check
INTRODUCTION InvestOps USA 2025 brought together 950+ industry leaders to discuss the latest trends in investment operations, covering outsourcing, transformation, and the ever-present data challenges. Conversations with vendors, clients, and panelists highlighted key themes that will shape decision-making this year. Outsourcing: Shifting from Transactions to Partnerships One of the biggest shifts in outsourcing is the
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Trends Impacting Investment Operations, Meradia’s 2025 Viewpoint
SUMMARY A modern Target Operating Model in investment management is no longer a “nice to have” but a necessity in an increasingly competitive, data-driven, and highly regulated landscape. Firms cannot cut their way to success in the marketplace as technological innovation and operational efficiency is the source of future outperformance relative to peers. Firms who
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Applying Machine Learning Techniques in Investment Performance: Uncovering Heuristics to Decipher Data Quality Checks
PREFACE Jose Michaelraj CIPM, CAIA, a Senior Manager at Meradia, specializes in optimizing performance operations and technology for asset managers, asset owners, and custodians. With deep expertise in modern data management techniques, Jose has reorganized performance processes, assessed attribution platforms, and developed a pattern recognizing validation tool. Jose frequently writes about bridging business needs with
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The Customization Conundrum: Navigating the Challenges of OTC Derivatives
In the ever-evolving world of finance, over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives are the hidden gems within portfolios of savvy managers, offering both complexity and opportunity. Initially developed to meet specific hedging needs, OTC derivatives have grown significantly in both volume and importance, now playing a crucial role in global finance. These instruments offer the unique ability to
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Silos to Solutions: The Data-Driven Approach to Front-to-Back Transformation
For the past decade, the market seemed to be racing away from multi-vendor best-of-breed implementations towards everyone implementing some type of Front-to-Back solutioning. As discussed in more detail earlier in this series, the primary reason was to reduce costs by simplifying the entire end-to-end process. Their adoption hasn’t occurred at the pace everyone initially thought
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Process Based Attribution: Getting to the Heart of Value Add
INTRODUCTION Our previous papers in the asset owner series dealt with a variety of topics in the performance value chain. The first paper discussed valuation challenges posed by higher allocations to private markets, external asset management, and managing multiple books of record. Our second explored multiple return methodologies to provide meaningful performance returns. In the
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Change Management: Forgotten? Afterthought? Or Strategic Investment for Success?
INTRODUCTION The significance of change management cannot be overstated in today’s evolving business landscape. Do you genuinely value change management? How do you effectively drive change? What strategies do you employ to ensure success? Often, organizations miss the crucial opportunity to integrate change management at the optimal stage of their projects. When the tide of
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The Front-to-Back Operation Movement in Investment Process: Evolution and Integration
In recent years, the asset management industry has undergone a noteworthy evolution towards a “Front-to-Back” (F2B) movement. While this concept is not entirely new, it has historically been dominated by a single provider for over a decade. The primary driving force behind this evolution is the realization among Asset Managers that their legacy fee structures
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