CRM is the technological backbone for investor relations teams- but too often, it operates in isolation. To gain a real competitive edge, firms need to integrate their CRM into a broader data strategy.
With public and market data sources becoming increasingly commoditized, harnessing proprietary data in private equity becomes the real advantage – capturing and surfacing investor intelligence that only the business has access to.
By connecting the CRM with other systems, like portfolio and finance tools, firms can unlock intelligence that empowers investor relation teams, improving efficiency and enhancing their decision-making during fundraising and investor lifecycle.
7 Benefits of CRM Integration in Private Equity Investor Relations
To connect a CRM with other systems, firms can leverage a data platform that serves as an integration layer between the CRM and other critical systems to facilitate key data exchange, as shown below:
1. Unlock Unique Market Insights with Expanded Data Source Integration
Every CRM has a limited set of integrations, limiting the variety of market data sources a firm can rely on. By being source agnostic, a data platform provides firms with the possibility to integrate other unique market data sources.
“Investor relation teams can differentiate from peers by relying on other sources than the common market data sources.”
2. Forecast Fundraising Success with Advanced Pipeline Trend Analysis
Unlike CRMs, which provide moment-in-time views, a data platform enables firms to track how the pipeline evolves over time. Investor relations team can:
- Include time series analysis on reporting and dashboards.
- Compare pipeline data across periods, identify fundraising trends, and perform deeper analysis and potential forecasting based on historical data.
3. Automate LP Commitment Tracking via CRM and Accounting System Sync
A data platform can integrate live commitment data from accounting systems into CRM, ensuring up-to-date information on LP commitments and transfers. By automating LP commitment tracking, the investor relations team can:
- Automate the tracking of transfers, being able to view investors selling stakes externally or simply transferring between legal entities, to maintain a complete picture of commitments.
- Ensure relationship managers always have an accurate view of live investor commitments with original and current figures without the need for manual data entry in CRM.
4. Maximize Investor Engagement with Virtual Data Room Analytics
A data platform simplifies Virtual Data Room access and tracking by integrating with the CRM, enabling better decision-making during fundraising. Investor relation teams can:
- Automate permissions for VDR access from the CRM and feed back activity data, enabling IR teams to have a full view of interactions with investors.
- Track who engages with the VDR, what they view, and when, providing insights into investor engagement and interest levels.
5. Optimize Investor Portal Interaction Tracking for Enhanced Relationships
A data platform enables centralized management of investor contact preferences and permissions for reports like quarterly updates, capital calls, and distributions. With CRM and investor portal integrations, IR teams can:
- Feed contact data from the CRM into the accounting tool and investor portal, reducing the need for duplicated contact data entry and management.
- Access investor engagement analytics by tracking interactions with the portal, such as whether they’ve opened documents like capital calls, allowing proactive follow-ups.
- Set up and manage the permissions from the CRM directly
6. Streamline Investor Response Management with AI-Powered Workflows
By leveraging a centralized store of all structured data, unstructured document data, and past email correspondences, IR teams can apply AI to effectively streamline responses to DDQs and investor queries. By combining sources of investor data, teams can:
- Enable AI-powered suggested responses to all incoming investor questions, based on data held in disparate systems and emails
- Addresses the limitations of static mailbox-based systems by providing dynamic query tracking and reporting. This provides insight into the key themes and trends of investors’ interests to help inform future reporting.
7. Accelerate Subscription Processes with KYC/AML Automation
A data platform integrates KYC/AML and subscription process insights into the CRM, ensuring transparency and streamlined tracking across teams and systems. Investor relation teams can:
- Centralize onboarding progress, allowing IR teams to monitor stages, identify bottlenecks, and ensure investors meet deadlines for closings.
- Reduce reliance on emails and spreadsheets by providing a single, live view of investors’ progress.
ATLAS Data Platform: Transforming Investor Relations Through Unified CRM and Enterprise Data
Our clients use Holland Mountain’s ATLAS Integration Platform-as-a-Service to integrate their CRM with other core systems to capture and surface investor data.
Rather than connecting each system to the other, ATLAS acts as an integration platform that provides additional benefits for the firm:
- Breaking down data silos: Maintain data points across different systems automatically in real-time with two-way syncs.
- Improving data quality: Built-in data mastering ensures data quality and consistency.
- Managed integrations: Platform providers monitor connections and resolve any breaks.
- Advanced reporting: Firms can access limitless reporting potential by using the best visualization tools, which can be enriched by data from multiple systems.
Want to know what cutting-edge data capabilities look like? See ATLAS in action.
Schedule a demo with our team of data experts and see first-hand how you can provide investor relations with access to intelligence that gives them a competitive advantage.
