Leveraging Middle and Back Office Services to Boost Operational Efficiency

Posted by Leo Aranas
2
Dec 8, 2015
310 Views
Behind every successful asset manager dealing directly with investor clients are middle and back office services that facilitate informed decision-making and keep their everyday operations running smoothly. Below are some of these important functions which can now be outsourced to third parties, to help boost the operational efficiency of asset management firms:

Risk management. Select middle office support providers have developed solutions that present risk metrics at the portfolio level, especially allowing real-time access to information, as well as the speedy retrieval of trade records. Such a function is most welcome in an industry marked by a great degree of volatility.

Tax services. Tax reporting can be a tedious task that can take the fund managers’ focus away from growing their clients’ investments. Thankfully, professionals specializing in middle office services can handle the preparation of tax statements, help formulate responses to tax authority queries, aid in W-8 and W-9 compliance, and maintain tax capital accounts, among other roles.

Accounting. New cloud-based technology platforms allow for a systematic approach to accounting, which is a critical part of the asset management business. With the eyes of regulatory bodies trained on fund managers following investment scandals within the past decade, accounting services by third parties can help promote more cost-effective and transparent operations. Said accounting services may cover bank account reconciliation, the preparation of monthly investor and other financial statements, and the daily security and cash reconciliation.

Data management. Data storage and management is another vital function for portfolio managers. After all, data from a firm’s past transactions as well as incoming data based on real-time market developments will help determine the viability of a trade execution. Platforms developed by some asset servicing firms allow data aggregation and warehousing on the Cloud, which in turn enable safe remote access as well as comprehensive analysis and multi-party comparison views.

Compliance management. Finally, middle and back office solutions providers support compliance to increasingly complex government regulations and demands from investors. Their software can take care of liquidity reporting, and record-keeping, and even issue reminders for filing and reporting deadlines.

By leveraging such tools which automate all processes related to asset management, firms can now save on time and company resources, and significantly reduce the mistakes that are otherwise attributable to human errors. Their operations will become highly rationalized, and their performance, consistent and reliable – the kind that today’s investor clients will be naturally drawn to.
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