The client:
A leading independent private equity fund manager investing in Central Europe. 35 professionals located across 3 European offices. £1.3bn in committed capital across three mid-market funds.
What was the initial problem?
The firm had begun a portfolio monitoring system implementation project several years ago, but had never got the system working well for them. They had initially set up thousands of data points to collect, many of which were not used at all, rendering the system difficult to maintain. Poor data quality meant the team didn’t trust the outputs and weren’t using the system. As time had passed, few team members knew how to use it and those that did were not getting value from it.
Portfolio reporting was time-consuming and error prone. Investment professionals were laboriously copying and pasting data into pdf reports. Feeling that they were not seeing return on investment, the firm were considering pulling the plug on the system.
What action did we take?
Holland Mountain were engaged first to conduct a system ‘health check’. We analysed our client’s instance of the system, identifying all areas for potential improvements across data, templates, reports and surrounding processes. We spent time with each of the relevant stakeholders to understand their pain points and what they they would ideally like to be able to get from the system.
Based on our findings and knowledge of best practice portfolio monitoring operations, we produced a detailed re-implementation plan, outlining exactly what needed to be done to get the system working well for them. Our plan included a breakdown of the time and effort that would be required, enabling them to make an informed decision on whether they wanted to proceed with the re-implementation project.
They decided to proceed and engaged Holland Mountain to re-implement the system. Our re-implementation covered:
- Processes: We worked with the business to improve their data collection processes, automating manual aspects where possible to make them more efficient
- Templates: We streamlined the data collection templates, removing unnecessary data points and standardising where possible
- Data: We filled gaps in the data currently held in the system and migrated all missing historic data
- Reporting: We replicated their PDF reports, enabling them to be automatically generated by the system at the click of a button
- Training: We ensured that the team knew how to use the system in the most efficient way going forward, minimising the risk of them reverting to old ways
What were the benefits?
The re-implementation project was a great success. Now with full, high quality data, the team trusts the outputs from the system and is seeing significant value from it. Reports that used to take days to produce can now be generated in seconds without the risk of manual error. User adoption is high.
We are now providing this client with ongoing Platform Management Services, ensuring that the system continues to be maintained, that user adoption remains high and that the business continues to get the most from the system. They have a dedicated Platform Manager who they can draw on to make any necessary amendments to templates, reports or dashboards, to add any new required functionality and to provide any necessary ad hoc training and support.