Wealth management firms are faced with more complicated mandates from customers, the need for internal controls, and an increasingly regulated marketplace.
“Prior to 2008, we didn’t have to worry too much about compliance,” said Kimberly Foss, founder of Empyrion Wealth Management, a $200 million firm with 80 clients, all of them high-net worth individuals. “After 2008, we were overwhelmed by compliance regulations, and this will intensify going forward. There will be more Black Swan events, and it’s the investment advisor’s job to mitigate risk.”
Captrust Financial Advisors, a North Carolina-based wealth management firm, has implemented Linedata Longview and Linedata Reporting, which are modules within Linedata’s front office platform comprising portfolio management, trading, and pre-trade compliance and reporting.
“As we prepare for our projected growth, we searched for a single platform to handle portfolio management and trading, while supporting both equities and fixed income securities,” said John Appleby, managing director at Captrust, in a statement. “Linedata offers a fully integrated platform with strong pre-trade compliance tools which will provide the controls we require, as well as increase our efficiencies as we move into new asset classes.”
Captrust is an independent investment research and fee-based advisory firm specializing in providing retirement plan and investment advisory services to retirement plan fiduciaries, executives, and high-net-worth individuals. Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., the firm represents $85 billion
Employing a two month implementation process, the Linedata system will allow Captrust to manage its equity and fixed income institutional wealth management business.
“What’s occurring is the institutionalization of the wealth management space,” said Gavin Little-Gill, managing director of Linedata North America. “These firms need to build internal controls, increase efficiencies and facilitate growth, while automating pre-trade compliance rules checks. We have seen significant growth in our wealth management business over the last year and a half.”
A global asset management survey recently conducted by Linedata found that 30% of asset managers consider system consolidation to be a top IT priority.
“Having a single order management system (OMS) will centralize compliance, lower costs and create workflow efficiencies, which is paramount for firms such as Captrust that are preparing for growth,” said Little-Gill.
Linedata Longview is a multi-asset and multi-currency order management system that integrates with Linedata Reporting, a reporting package. Linedata Longview and Linedata Reporting deliver portfolio management, trading and reporting tools.
New Jersey-based Sabby Management, an investment management firm, has been live for 18 months with SS&C GlobeOp as its administrator for two fund complexes that it launched in 2011.
The funds, which manage in excess of $200 million and focus on the healthcare sector, are being administered out of SS&C GlobeOp’s Evansville, Ind. location, which provides a full range of fund accounting services to hedge funds, fund of funds, managed accounts and private equity funds including NAV preparation, cash and security reconciliations, and investor services.
The firm has been a client of SS&C since its inception 18 months ago, according to Robert Grundstein, chief operating officer and general counsel at Sabby Management.