Consultant Comes to the Rescue

Fleming Family and Partners Asset Management, a London-based asset manager with $2 billion in assets under management, recently implemented a custom client-reporting system. The firm, which specializes in diversified investment vehicles for family groups, individuals, charities and institutions, retained the investment-management consultancy, Citisoft, to build the custom solution.

"I don't think we could have found a package on the market that fits into all of the current systems that we use here," explains Karen Stanley, head of fund administration at the firm, noting that many of FF&P's existing systems were developed by the firm's administrator and custodian. "We wanted our solution to do x, y and z and the packages out there could do x and y, but not z."

Stanley adds that Citisoft contributed a level of market and technological expertise that the firm did not have internally. "I focus on the operation that we have here, but a consultant can look at the market, rather than the operation. They are out there, looking at what firms are using and what is available," she says.

As a three-year-old firm, Stanley stresses the importance of developing technologies to meet both regulatory needs and client requirements. FF&P was manually extracting data from valuation systems to produce client reports in word and excel, but she says that the firm was looking for an automated solution. In addition, Stanley says that transparency was a key driver for a new system, as well as personalization and presentation.

Based on previous relationships that managers at FF&P had with Citisoft while working at other firms, Stanley says she was comfortable with hiring the consulting firm. Citisoft sent in a consultant to study FF&P's operation, Stanley says. "It was important that he come in and listen to our clients. He became part of our team and worked closely with us," she explains.

During his three month residence at FF&P, the Citisoft consultant observed the firm's business, then created, developed and tested a client-reporting system. According to Citisoft, the system automatically pulls information from existing systems within the firm, the compiles them into client reports containing commentary from investment managers, performance information and market reviews.

In addition, Stanley says that the system has enabled the firm to automate reconciliation of information that comes in from the administrative system.

Stanley notes that the system has not necessarily alleviated the workload of the firm, but instead, has added depth and detail to the reports. "I'm not sure that what we've developed is the ultimate," she says. "It is a work in progress. There is a learning curve when finding the middle ground between regulatory requirements and what clients want to see. Hopefully we're nearly there."