$500B Asset Manager Redesigns Data Warehouse to Meet Multi-Asset Insurance Reporting Needs

Our client is a $500 billion asset manager with a diverse portfolio of investments, leveraging multiple asset-specific accounting and administration platforms. With disparate platforms, the process of aggregating regulatory and management reporting across assets was a complex manual and time-consuming process.

For over 10 years, the firm used Eagle PACE as a data warehouse and performance solution for its equity and fixed-income investment and operational reporting. The firm identified an opportunity to extend the platform and leverage it as a central warehouse to address the inefficient insurance reporting function. It recognized that the expansion of Eagle PACE would involve a complete reengineering of the warehouse, data marts, quality controls, and governance structure. The redesign and extension of the platform across multiple investment management, insurance accounting, and finance divisions would be a massive undertaking.

The project

Citisoft provided advisory and delivery services throughout the program. In partnership with the client, we designed a program to ensure long-term viability of their data warehouse by providing scalability, performance, access, and control required to satisfy expanded usage of the platform. We began the program with a strategic analysis to define the shared objectives across all groups within the organization.

A gap assessment was conducted on the existing warehouse to identify data, functional, and reporting requirements. The implementation roadmap would require the redesign of the existing source integration to capture multiples bases and the addition of multiple new source systems for real estate, structured debt, and derivatives. The new data sets would also have to be stored at a transactional and summary ledger level and be integrated into the corporate general ledger.

The rollout of the target state reporting, technical architecture, and data quality management structures were defined in packaged releases to maximize the business benefit based on prioritized data and reporting requirements. A program governance structure inclusive of key stakeholders and executives across the organization was also defined to oversee scope, cost, and timeline. This approach also helped mitigate risk by incrementally establishing and maturing the architecture.

After the program strategy was developed, Citisoft managed a detailed implementation plan covering all aspects of the architecture, integration, reporting and governance design, development, testing, and deployment. In addition to strategic planning and program management, we provided business, technical analysis, and subject matter expertise.

Citisoft's responsibilities included the following:

• Strategic planning
• Executive reporting and communication
• Program management and project management
• Functional, data, and reporting gap assessment
• Requirements definition
• Target state design
• Data integration and translation design
• Data dictionary
• Report rationalization/template standardization
• Report specifications
• Onshore/offshore development oversight
• Operational readiness, testing, and training
  
  

The result

Our client now leverages common, consistent, and controlled data. They are further able to produce multi-asset reporting using streamlined processes, tight risk controls, and improved data governance, and is well-positioned to meet future reporting demands.
The program objective to create a common enterprise platform and governance model for investment data was achieved. We helped establish an effective enterprise model for sourcing, managing, and reporting across investment and insurance functions. The architecture had the control, security, scalability, quality management tools, and reporting required to improve the efficiency of the insurance reporting function, create a single source of the general account assets for use across the enterprise, and provide the scalability for future expansion.

The implementation enabled our client to enhance efficiency and reliability of complex reporting and analysis, supporting the following:

• CRM—Backstop
• Increased demand for accounting analysis by the business units and the OCIO
• Consolidated and integrated investment accounting data at multiple aggregation levels
• Increased demand for complex ad-hoc reports
• Reduced risk of errors through standardized investment information
• New complex accounting standards
• Increased demand for internal and external financial reporting
• Staff focus on review and analysis rather than data aggregation and reconciliation

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