Inefficiency Eats Money

An article in FundFire looks at how much poor data and records management can cost investment managers (Henderson, Richard. "Managers Lose Millions from Poor Data, Documentation." FundFire, September 16, 2016). I couldn't agree more.

The article cites inefficiency as most costly due to lost staff productivity from double and triple efforts to gather, store, and share information within an organization. From my perspective, this article is "preaching to the choir." We at Archer have been talking about efficiency since the company was founded, unfortunately, efficiency is boring. So boring, it can save millions.

With respect to data and records management, we long-ago introduced a single-source record library that is attached to accounts and is part of an integrated workflow. Because Archer's solution is cloud-based and accessed using standard browser interfaces, distances between offices are eliminated and records reviews and management happen in real-time.

The article goes on to posit that managers can address their data and records management challenges by using a single system that centralizes data across an organization; one that provides product flexibility as managers seek to expand their business. I think that very much sums up our product and its benefits -- as noted in our announcement of how Polen Capital consolidated all of its accounts onto Archer. By providing a single system, Archer improves Polen's operational efficiency; because it fully supports non-USD investments, it helped them to introduce new products.

Lastly, inertia is called out by name as a hurdle that managers face in updating technology to be able to reduce inefficiencies. The technology is out there, but is the investment required to convert really worth it? That is where managers have to be honest when looking at how much the status quo is costing them. Archer recently addressed this in an article first published in Fund Technology, "Investment Management Operations: Improving firm performance through technology."

I believe that because Archer's genesis was from within the investment management industry, our tools and solutions are designed to solve basic, real-world problems encountered every day. I invite anyone who sees their own frustrations reflected in the content of the FundFire article to take a look at the solutions provided by Archer and our team.