Mutual fund data management is often a tangled web of disparate sources, leading to data entry duplication and inconsistencies across systems.

The data management of mutual funds and other pooled investment products is unique among investment securities. The tools used in the capital markets space for managing equities and fixed-income securities are not transferable to pooled investment products, which have unique data elements that require key system functionality in order to process and accommodate.

Most large financial services firms have almost identical issues within the mutual fund and reference data space, and most of these problems are centered around legacy systems that require manual processes and a large staff, draining firm resources.

Read on to learn how Delta Data helped a leading brokerage firm address the data complexities surrounding mutual funds and other pooled investment products.

Customer Challenge: Seeking a System of Record for Mutual Fund Data

The brokerage firm was undergoing a multi-year transformation around the processing and management of its data and global security master. The firm’s enterprise data management solution, like most EDMs, lacked the unique functionalities required to manage pooled investment products, such as mutual funds, which led them to seek a single system-of-record solution for mutual fund data.

    Identifying the Pain Points

      Data Inaccessibility

      The firm’s data existed within three different databases: one database held the traditional symbol, price, and descriptive type of data; another database held the trading rules (minimums, open to investors, Blue Sky, etc.); a third database serviced its advisor clients.

      The mutual fund department was tasked with maintaining security reference data for all the multiple data points in all three databases.

        Data Inconsistency

        The three data silos were built on a legacy platform that did not have the functionality for the databases to communicate, and not every data point was available in each database.

          Data Inefficiency

          For any particular fund, the team had to enter the same data multiple times – in this case, three different times in three different databases. The data needed to be manually updated and distributed when a fund change impacted one of the funds or when a new mutual fund was approved.

          This manual procedure presented inherent risk and the personnel required to maintain this laborious process left the team bloated.

          Data Inaccuracy

          Without a system that was built with domain expertise in mutual funds, there was no viable means to accurately report on mutual fund data, as it was stored within systems that didn’t have corresponding data points.

          Implementing a Built-for-Purpose Data Management Solution

          Delta Data offered the firm a single-system-of-record data management tool specifically tailored to address data complexities and simplify the servicing and trading of mutual funds and other pooled investment products. The HUB, powered by Delta Data, automated the process of obtaining and centralizing the firm’s universe of mutual fund data originating from multiple sources.

          Seamless Integration

          The HUB seamlessly accommodated the firm’s proprietary data, while utilizing built-in data distribution tools to enable easy integration with the firm’s downstream systems.

          Pre-Configuration

          Configurable business rules and exception-based workflows allow the firm to rapidly identify errors and compare data quality across different sources (i.e. Morningstar, Lipper, Profile II, etc.)

          Data Aggregation and Standardization

          The HUB creates multiple “gold copies” of the firm’s mutual fund data that can be confidently deployed in supporting a range of data workloads, making mutual fund data management more efficient.

          Results with Delta Data

          Delta Data’s Data Management solution, The HUB, provided the brokerage firm’s mutual fund team with a huge leap forward in functionality.

          Improved Data Quality

          Enhanced data breadth, depth, and integrity through additional data sources and business rules with real-time intraday updates. Gold copies create one cleansed version of the data, so data is consistent throughout the firm’s technology ecosystem.

          Custom Data Interface Functionality

          The HUB’s easily expandable Data Dictionary, which features over 613 data points configured with all the standard data fields in pooled investment products, was also able to accommodate the firm’s custom data points. The functionality for custom data sources allowed the firm to set up 10 custom Reference Data Import Feeds to house its proprietary data.

          Increased Operational Processing Efficiency

          Distribution of information for consuming systems with efficient workflow and reporting and the ability to set up automatic exports in their systems. The elimination of manual processes enabled the firm to redeploy an entire mutual fund team to other areas of focus, reducing the size of its mutual fund data team by 80 percent.

          Mastering Mutual Fund Data Complexity

          Upgrading legacy systems and adopting modern data management processes enables firms to better manage and analyze vast amounts of data, which can lead to increased efficiency and reduced costs

          Read the full case study here to learn more about how The HUB, powered by Delta Data, helped this leading brokerage firm master the complexity of mutual fund data.

          Connect with our team for more information on how to modernize and future-proof your mutual fund data management.