What does it take to become a leader in investment data management?

How an investment management firm manages its data is crucial, which means it’s essential to have the right platforms in place.

Last year, AlphaCert published a data management maturity model to help investment management organisations identify where they currently sit on the data management maturity curve and where they might want to aim. Organisations can use the maturity model to decide where to invest the time, money, and energy so that data management best supports the organisation’s objectives.

This model contains five categories and four levels explicitly designed for the industry. We identified an investment data leader as an organisation that builds well-defined and automated methods for developing its data products, establishes a well-structured data product catalogue, and provides self-service capabilities across the organisation.

These organisations transform data into an independent, digital asset for the business and expand its use out into the connected ecosystem where data is treated as a valuable business asset that drives optimal business outcomes.

The role of an enterprise data management platform

“Investment is fundamentally about confidence. From individuals placing their hard-earned savings into a fund right through to the analysts and managers driving investment portfolios, it is about being able to trust that people are making good decisions based on clear and accurate data.”

Phil Pietersen , AlphaCert Founder and CEO

EDM is the process of capturing, governing and securing your organisation’s data so that all of the organisation has the confidence that Phil Pietersen talks about in the above quote.

An EDM platform plays an essential role in helping organisations move up the data management maturity curve and features in the Architecture dimension of our data management maturity model, which considers the tools and processes being used to capture, store and deliver investment data. Simply put—an EDM Platform provides a single source of truth that is purpose-built and customisable, with extensive verification and data dissemination capabilities.

Investment organisations that we rate as Level 3 in the maturity model are maturing organisations that are building momentum. Their data flows are documented, understood, and repeatable. They typically have an EDM Platform in place, but the level of adherence is low. The organisation has automated most processes, but manual work is still required.

At Level 4, everything is humming. These investment organisations are data leaders with an EDM Platform that loads, integrates, and stores data using robust processes. They capture all data flows and store their data at every level of the fund and portfolio structure covering all options and products.

The benefits of an enterprise data management platform

Superannuation funds and other investment management organisations can achieve a range of benefits from an EDM Platform, including:

  • Verified and consistent data to support downstream systems
  • Automated processes to reduce time, cost and errors
  • Confidence that all data from both external and internal sources in one secure environment
  • Tailored reporting for various needs and user-types
  • Flexibility to scale as the organisation evolves

An EDM Platform helps organisations achieve consistency, alignment and compliance with their valuable data.

Where are you currently

The first step is to assess your fund’s current state of data management maturity. We’ve created a quick online assessment to help you in this process.

We’d also suggest talking to subject matter experts and stakeholders to identify and document your current level of maturity against each of the categories in our maturity model. This is your baseline maturity. You can likely be at different maturity levels for each category. This difference shouldn’t concern you; it just indicates an area of focus.

Take AlphaCert’s Data Maturity Assessment

Read AlphaCert’s Data Maturity model

If you’d like to find out how AlphaCert can help you understand your current level of data maturity and how an EDM platform will help you, get in touch and we’ll start a discussion.

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