Data Overload: How Funds Counter Underutilization With a Modern RMS

Data continues to shape how investment managers find edge. We can safely say that funds have more data available from a wider variety of data sources than five years ago. In five years, we’ll be able to say the same.

While the market advantages of new and diverse datasets are real, the reality is that portfolio managers at any given moment are tasked with making smart, timely decisions by correlating signals from the noise across an increasing number of internal and external outside sources: their PMS, traditional sources like Refinitiv, alternative data like Earnest, analyst-generated like memos and meeting notes, models from Excel files, and more. The list is long. 

It makes sense then, that funds are grappling with the next logical step: making sure this all this data   —  data costing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars —  is being seen by the right people, at the right time, and in the right context.

How do you make sure you are using the resource to its potential without underusing or misusing it?

Data Science, Data Lakes, & Relational Databases

Some firms have dedicated data science teams, and some have in-house software developers, but those team members are often forced to work outside the box, so to speak. They’re crunching the numbers in development environments that aren’t always hooked-up to the systems in which their investment teams work and consume information. Data lake products, such as Snowflake, are becoming increasingly popular, allowing these larger shops to house multiple large datasets in one place, but there’s still the issue of where does the output go?

And what if you don’t have all that in-house expertise to begin with?

It’s why we’ve built a research management system that helps professional investment firms better manage the flow of data and content coming at them every day.

The Power of a Relational Database

More specifically, Verity’s user-friendly productivity environment is built on top of a powerful relationship database – this allows funds and their portfolio managers to build dynamic dashboards to consume all these previously disparate sources of information in one place.

Fund managers are able to bring all these datasets into a platform where data scientists and dev-savvy analysts (or our client services professionals) can manage each of the data sources in distinct container-like environments that allow for user-friendly data queries, in-app, behind the scenes.

This way, firms are able to combine various data analysis outputs into single-view dashboards, displaying data side-by-side, for example, from (i) Enfusion (OMS/PMS), (ii) Refinitiv (traditional market data), (iii) Earnest (alt data), (iv) analyst meeting notes (analyst-generated content), (v) model estimates (harvesting from analysts’ Excel files), and (vi) investment memos (analyst-generated content) — to name a few.

Whether a portfolio manager’s team wants to query the database using SQL or Python, Verity makes it easy to do so, combining the quantitative and qualitative in single views, customized to any particular fund’s needs, analyst by analyst, or portfolio manager by portfolio manager. Now, portfolio managers know exactly where to go to get the latest and greatest research, recommendations, and portfolio tracking data without having to ask for it. VerityRMS automates alerts and surfaces what portfolio managers need to know, when they need to know it.

Bottom Line

VerityRMS gives investment team better productivity tools to take meeting notes, incorporate external datasets, harvest processed data from models, and collaborate with colleagues as they work through new investment ideas and monitor existing positions.

With all this data and content displayed in any number of ways, we help portfolio managers see trends over time, correlation between events, and other insights regarding their research process that would be nearly impossible (if not very time-consuming) to do without a purpose-built investment research management platform.

See It For Yourself

Find out how funds making the best use of their data with VerityRMS.

Contact us today for a demo — or to talk to our team of experts >>