Customer Success Story: Strengthening Data Quality & Governance for an Asset & Wealth Management Firm

Key Challenge

A leading asset and wealth management firm was grappling with significant data quality and governance issues, hampering its ability to produce accurate investment reports, comply with evolving regulations, and offer clients dependable portfolio insights. Managing a diverse portfolio that comprises of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), institutional investors, and retirement funds, the firm depended on data from numerous custodians, fund administrators, market data providers, and internal systems.

However, challenges such as inconsistent data formats, duplication, missing values, and siloed databases led to delays in performance reporting, inaccurate risk assessments, and potential compliance risks under regulatory frameworks like SEC, FINRA, and MiFID II. Portfolio managers struggled with incomplete investment data that led to suboptimal decision-making and eroded client trust.

To maintain its competitive advantage, the firm recognized the urgent need for a robust data quality and governance framework to ensure consistent, reliable, and compliant data across the organization.

Kaizen’s Solution

Kaizen implemented an integrated, end-to-end data quality and governance solution that addressed the firm’s challenges by providing a centralized, automated, and scalable approach to data management. The solution was structured around three core areas.

First, Kaizen focused on enhancing data quality. AI-powered data cleansing algorithms were employed to identify and correct inconsistent, duplicated, and missing investment data in real time, ensuring the integrity of critical financial information. Data lineage tracking was established to provide transparency on how data was sourced, transformed, and consumed, minimizing errors in Net Asset Value (NAV) calculations, portfolio valuations, and risk assessments. Additionally, automated reconciliation between custodians and market data providers ensured the accuracy of pricing, trade settlements, and corporate actions.

Second, Karen implemented a comprehensive governance framework. This included the establishment of data ownership and stewardship across the firm’s portfolio management, risk, and compliance teams. Role-based access controls were introduced to ensure that only authorized personnel could modify sensitive data, thereby reducing the risk of manual errors and unauthorized changes to critical financial information.

Third, the solution ensured compliance with evolving regulatory requirements. By providing compliance teams with automated reporting dashboards, Kaizen’s solution enabled the firm to stay up to date with MiFID II, SEC disclosure requirements, and ESG investment reporting standards. Real-time anomaly detection systems were also deployed to flag potential discrepancies in client investment statements, helping mitigate risks associated with regulatory audits.

By integrating Kaizen’s solution into the firm’s existing portfolio management system (PMS) and risk platforms, the firm was able to enhance data consistency and improve reporting accuracy across the entire organization.

Impact

Within just six months, the asset and wealth management firm garnered substantial improvements in data governance, reporting accuracy, and operational efficiency. The introduction of AI-driven data validation and automated reconciliation processes resulted in a 40% reduction in data errors, leading to greater client trust and improved regulatory compliance.

Portfolio reporting became 35% faster, as automated data reconciliation significantly reduced the time required to generate performance reports and NAV calculations. Operational efficiency also saw a significant boost with 50% improvement. This was achieved by eliminating the need for manual data cleanup efforts, allowing portfolio managers and analysts to focus more on investment strategy and less on data correction.

Furthermore, the real-time monitoring and anomaly detection systems ensured that the firm adhered to regulatory reporting deadlines and minimized the risk of non-compliance penalties, further strengthening its regulatory position.

Conclusion

By adopting Kaizen’s AI-powered data quality and governance solution, the asset and wealth management firm successfully transformed its data management processes, leading to improved accuracy, transparency, and compliance. The ability to trust investment data empowered portfolio managers to make more informed investment decisions, which in turn helped solidify client relationships and uphold regulatory integrity.

In the fast-changing landscape of financial services, maintaining clean, reliable, and well-governed data is vital for success. With Kaizen’s customized solution, the firm positioned itself as a trusted, data-driven leader in the asset and wealth management industry.