Data Strategy

Investics can provide assistance to firms who would like to find ways to liberate the value embedded in its data.  We can assist with envisioning, planning and implementing next generation, cost-effective enterprise-wide data strategies utilizing the latest in cloud-based big data technologies to deliver intuitive and dazzling online visualizations, analytics and reporting in order to empower your organization and bring transformational efficiencies to your clients and internal operating models.

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Examples of the Data Strategy Consulting Investics can provide:

1. Assessments

   • Executive Summary 

   • Architectural Review

   • Strengths and Weakness

   • Capabilities and Gaps Inventory

   • Future Needs

   • Cloud Cost Comparison

   • Cultural Transformation Climate

   • Carbon Footprint

2. Recommendations

   • Data and Analytics Platforms

   • Performance/Risk Systems

   • Data & Technology Tools & Vendors

   • Organizational Readiness

3. Implementations 

   • Project and Program Management

   • Data Vendor Integration

   • Data Modeling

   • Data Marketplace Offerings

   • Visualization Development

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All organizations have a different and unique starting point when it comes to the current state of their own data framework.  Some have no overarching data strategy with data trapped in core operating systems, while others have a plethora of data strategies all in different states of completeness, technologies and capabilities.  With the advent of cloud based big data platforms, the world has changed dramatically in just the last few years where comprehensive data strategies can be envisioned, planned and implemented in significantly less time and cost.  This is mainly due to the shift from solely relying on 20 - 30 year old database technology utilizing structured relational data models instead of the more nimble and cost effective unstructured data models of a big data Hadoop framework running on a cloud based environment.  What previously took years and sometimes millions in expense can be dramatically reduced to months and somewhere between one tenth to one sixth of the cost of using traditional technologies and approaches.  

 

Besides leveraging the cost efficiency of a cloud-based framework and big data architecture, the concept of utilizing an ELT (extract, load and translate) as opposed to the more traditional ETL (extract, translate and load) approach can also lead to being more nimble and faster to market.  This shift in focus takes the heavy lifting of translating data and moves it to the tail end of the process instead of it being an earlier hurdle and converts the translation more to a simple data exercise.  This means that once the Investics data and analytics framework is in place the ability to start benefiting from the arrival of data is instant and empowerment is brought immediately to the appropriate stakeholders.​

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Investment Analytics

Investics has significant experience with the selection, planning, program/project management, implementation and conversion of performance measurement, attribution, ex-ante & ex-post risk, universe comparison, benchmark and index construction, structural portfolio and style analysis and investment compliance systems.

 

Analytics can mean different things to different people.  There is the pure data analytics concept of gaining insight out of different data sets in order to make more timely and smarter business decisions, or to get a predictive head start on future trends that could indicate hidden, non-captured value or even avoiding potential problems before they happen.  With data packaged in the appropriate way and flowing through the right data architecture, these traditional benefits of a modern data analytics strategy are now very much achievable and can apply to most industrial sectors in business today.  Linking this data analytics approach with the current advancements in artificial intelligence around Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) and others, opens up almost endless possibilities.

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General data analytics can also be linked with investment analytics to bring insight into the investment process.  Performance measurement and attribution, risk analytics and rules-based compliance alert processing are all complex capabilities to implement in their own right.  One thing they all have in common is that they are all very data intensive and lend themselves well to leveraging today’s cloud based big data framework.  Calculations that can require thousands (if not millions) of data points are now able to be accomplished with speed and accuracy using advancements in dynamic calculation engines and in-memory processing.  What could take hours to calculate in traditional approaches can now take minutes or even seconds.  This opens up the possibilities of not only being able to calculate official book of record investment analytics results and storing them much more timely, cost effectively and efficiently; but it also breaks down the barriers of what-if and on-the-fly calculations to pursue different investment views at a moments notice.

 

Implementations

Whether the plan is to build in-house, utilize a public cloud-based solution (AWS, etc.) or some combination of both, Investics can provide assistance  as being part of a larger team, running or administering the project or actually implementing a cloud-based framework to meet a firm’s specific requirements.

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Organizational & Cultural Review

Organizational cultural and talent consulting to affect transformation to an enterprise wide data-centric product development and operating model.  We can help identify the talent and experience needed to implement and maintain an ongoing data and analytics strategy.  We also can assist in the identification and remedies in organizational cultural barriers that will inevitably come to the surface as an organization proceeds with the implementation of a data and analytics strategy.

 

Competitive Review

Investics has unique insight into the competitive capabilities of system vendors and custodian data and analytics capabilities delivered through various online portals.  This would include the primary online systems and data product offerings, reporting and visualization, performance measurement, attribution, ex-ante & ex-post risk, universe comparison, structural portfolio and style analysis and investment compliance capabilities. We can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the different providers that sometimes would not become apparent until a custodian or vendor is actually hired and brought onboard.