A fast-paced and complex business.
Keeping up with the latest investment strategies is crucial to stay competitive. Diversifying, moving to separately managed accounts (SMA), and tax-loss harvesting are some strategies that can provide firms an edge. But, let's be honest, it’s easier said than done. To support these strategies, you need a reliable and trustworthy technology and service partner to help you scale and grow your investments today and tomorrow.
Our recent whitepaper, Managing Growth: How One Investment Firm Plans to Scale and Grow with Technology, steps behind closed doors at Cresting Arc Investment Management, a Denver-based SMA with $11 billion AUM running several core equity strategies. The CEO and her executive team discuss the current state of their business and how rapid account growth impacts operations and scalability.
Complexity & Growth
One of the key challenges discussed is the need to manage a growing number of accounts and clients with more complex and personalized investment needs. Their investors expect more transparency and involvement in the investment process, increasing complexity for the portfolio managers. To support this demand, the executives recognized their current strategies and procedures won’t cut it. The team needs to move away from models and turn their approach to more personalized SMA strategies. But how do they manage hundreds or thousands of individualized portfolios efficiently without overwhelming their portfolio managers? The answer lies in a long-term technology and service strategy.
Long Term Solution
Some of the executives brought up their past "technology trap” experiences, where a new system was thought to solve all their problems but ended up causing more issues in the long run due to a lack of integrations, outdated workflows, narrow depth and breadth, and constant maintenance. So, what is the solution to this problem? Developing a long-term technology and service partner strategy that includes:
- Automation: The right portfolio management platform should automate the process of complex portfolio construction and rebalancing while delivering speed and efficiency to security selection and portfolio modeling.
- Centralized Data: A singular data source with seamless integration between the front and back offices enables quick access to portfolio information and better serves the personalized requests of clients.
- Operational Efficiency: When paired with managed services, firms can provide personalized portfolios and redirect their valuable time and resources toward what truly matters: nurturing client relationships, fostering growth, and delivering exceptional financial expertise, unburdened by the intricacies of technology updates and compliance.
- Expertise: A technology and service provider can make or break a firm. When choosing a provider, firms should verify they have vast networks, deep domain experience, continued innovation, and robust, rigorously tested platforms. The selected provider should act as an extension of the firm and solve problems today and in the future.
The executives at Cresting Arc Investment Management recognize the imperative to modernize and develop a long-term technology strategy that would enable them to meet the growing demands of their clients and stay ahead of the competition. By doing so, they are confident they can overcome their challenges and achieve long-term success for their firm.
A Trusted Partner
SS&C Advent offers solutions and services to help firms master the challenges of complex portfolios and high-volume trading. It combines the award-winning capabilities of our portfolio management and trade order management system, integrated with portfolio accounting and reporting engine, and supported by a single data store. The modular design enables firms to transition from their existing platform at a pace that suits their business objectives. Request a demo to learn more.
