Automating Accuracy: Streamlining Investment Reporting for a $7 Billion Portfolio

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Client Profile

The investments division of a large multi-national insurance company with approximately $7 billion in assets under management, covering investments across all major public and private asset classes. The client manages liabilities for multiple insurance segments, including life, annuities, and property & casualty.

Challenges

The client faced several significant challenges:

  1. Siloed reporting functions across numerous business functions, leading to inconsistencies in data interpretation and reporting.
  2. Manual and non-standardized processes for developing and producing reports.
  3. Inconsistent data outputs and delays in report generation.
  4. Dependence on Excel and other manual tools for data aggregation and report generation, causing inefficiencies.

Root Cause

The primary issues were reliance on manual processes and the lack of standardization in data aggregation and reporting, which resulted in delays and inconsistencies.

Solution

Comprehensive Data Integration and Automation

Cognivo was engaged to provide expertise in portfolio risk and performance from both business and technical perspectives. The key aspects of the solution included:

  1. Evaluating current state reporting processes and building an inventory of reports, limitations, and pain points.
  2. Recommending a roadmap and priorities to migrate legacy reports to a new framework.
  3. Analyzing existing data structures, stored procedures, and complex MS Excel workbooks.
  4. Providing expertise in managing investment-specific data, including positions, transactions, performance, benchmarks, and risk calculations.
  5. Transitioning from Excel to automated systems for better efficiency.
  6. Establishing standard data hierarchies, bucketing schemes, and aggregation methodologies.
  7. Creating a modularized reporting service and table-driven solutions for self-serve user access without complex business logic and calculations.

Services Involved

  1. Strategic Advisory: Offering expert guidance on optimizing reporting processes.
  2. Data Management & Reporting: Centralizing data storage and enhancing reporting capabilities.
  3. Systems Integration: Ensuring seamless integration with existing systems.
  4. Technology Implementation: Deploying advanced technological solutions for automation and data visualization.

Challenges Addressed

  1. Reporting Inconsistencies: Established consistent data interpretation and reporting methods across business functions.
  2. Manual Reporting: Eliminated manual and error-prone reporting processes.
  3. Timeliness and Accuracy: Ensured reports were generated accurately and on time.
  4. Operational Efficiency: Improved overall operational efficiency by automating processes.
  5. MS Excel Dependency: Replaced Excel with automated and integrated data management solutions.
  6. Data Visualization: Enhanced data visualization and reporting with Power BI.

Results

  1. Efficiency: Saved over 200 hours of manual processing time per year by automating daily job schedules and increasing the frequency of reports.
  2. Standardization: Established standard data hierarchies and aggregation methodologies, driving adoption across various teams.
  3. Flexibility: Created table-driven solutions allowing business user configuration versus IT code changes, increasing flexibility to expand reporting capabilities without increasing staff.
  4. User Access: Provided self-serve user access through a modularized reporting service without the need for understanding complex business logic and calculations.

Conclusion

By partnering with Cognivo, the large multi-national insurance company successfully enhanced its portfolio risk and analytics capabilities.

The automated solution not only ensured timely, accurate, and visually appealing reports but also significantly improved operational efficiency and return on investment.

This transformation enabled the firm to better utilize their team and focus on strategic activities, positioning them for continued success in the financial industry.