Systems Design, Architecture & Data Evaluation

ICC advises large institutional asset managers in the implementation of large scale comprehensive investment management software. We have assisted a host of clients including several world class insurance companies in the successful conversions of large scale investment accounting applications.

In our experience, a successful conversion requires an intimate knowledge of contemporary securities including fixed income and equity securities as well as the various derivative instruments. Moreover, it also necessitates detailed knowledge of statutory, GAAP and tax accounting and the unique characteristics required to identify, account for and report securities positions in consonance with requirements delineated by the various regulatory bodies. Although each client situation is unique, a typical conversion and implementation of accounting software for a large organization costs between two and six million dollars including internal and external costs and usually takes between 12 to18 months to complete. If a conversion is necessary due to a merger of two large organizations, the timeframe is typically shortened to 3 to 6 months, and must be completed for a substantially lower cost. The typical phases of such a project include but are not limited to the following:

Client specific function application development
Creation of daily and monthly production jobs
Data cleanup
Data conversion
Interfaces to other services and systems
Issue tracking and resolution
New release testing and implementation
Parallel input to the old and new systems
Production cutover planning and implementation
Project management and client communication
Project planning
Reconciliation and financial impact
Report creation, testing and user sign off
Training
Workaround documentation
Workflows and procedures documentation

A successful implementation also requires a team of experienced practitioners who have both technical and business expertise and function as a supplement and complement to the client organization's financial, technical and project resources.

ICC has observed that exclusive use of internal resources often contributes to missing the big picture as cross departmental issues frequently impede the overall success of the project. Furthermore, a new systems environment frequently necessitates the need to provide for and to conduct appropriate levels of training in addition to the attendant support documentation. In our experience, the amount and quality of post conversion knowledge transfer frequently determines the on-going success in the new systems environment.

ICC provides expert service in the following areas of investment accounting and portfolio management:

Management Consulting Services:

Conversion and installation
Project planning
Project management and client communications
Data conversion and data cleanup
Client specific application development
Development of RFPs (Request for Proposals) and RFQs (Request for Quotations)
Application software evaluation and selection
Creating application and systems interfaces to in-house and external systems
Develop portfolio management reports, queries, and views
Develop reports for quarterly and annual corporate tax filings systems

Technical and Business Services:

Reconciliation of old system to new system
Financial impact document
Parallel input to old and new systems
Issues tracking and resolution reports
Testing and signoffs
New release testing and implementation
Schedule D production and reconciliation workaround documentation
User training on investment systems
User training on investment instruments
Workflows and procedures
Monthly/quarterly portfolio reconciliation