While analysis and reports are being executed against the results of the institutional portfolios, the private client computation should be able to get underway, with no contention experienced either way. During the day the performance analysts and client relationship managers require the ability to calculate ad-hoc analysis and make data corrections in order to provide updated reports, to meet their clients’ SLAs without having to worry about the impact their actions might have on other business lines operating on the same system.

The core insight is clear: the demands of a firm with several business lines are not significantly different from those of a global organisation. It still wants highly automated centralised analysis along with the flexibility to meet the needs of multiple clients with differing SLAs.

At DSTi we have recently released what we are calling our ‘Global Operating Model’ in our Performance solution. We initially designed this based on the requirements of one of our large institutional clients with a global presence, and the need to efficiently calculate and distribute standardised analysis across all of its offices. However during the project’s design phase we realised we should expand the project scope somewhat, in order to meet the requirements not just of global organisations, but also the growing requirements of complex small and mid-sized managers. In fact, we realised that their requirements are fundamentally very similar. Maybe the Global Operating Model should be rechristened the Complex Operating Model …

I would conclude that all organisations considering the implementation of a new performance and attribution system, whether they choose something off the shelf from a vendor or opt for an in-house build, should consider processing and operational scalability as major project objectives. Additionally, while true globalisation is not a primary consideration for all investment firms, the drivers behind it and the potential benefits arising from it are highly applicable to all firms that want to ensure their operations are both flexible and highly automated – and ultimately, that their costs grow less rapidly than their revenues.