The client was seeking a consulting firm with deep expertise in operating model design who could assess their fragmented operating model which supported their investment teams via manual and offline processes, to produce a strategy toward outsourcing their middle office functions. Olmstead was engaged to design a vision for a strategic operating model that enables focus on core business, positioning the firm for scaling their client base. Olmstead guided the client through evaluating opportunities for outsourcing Middle Office, including transaction execution, cash processing, and IBOR reporting, as well as new opportunities for Back Office services.

The client had been expanding their single proprietary, bespoke platform over multiple decades to support three distinct trading desks: Muni, Taxable Fixed Income, and Equity. Built initially as a Muni platform and nearing end-of-life, the client was seeking a modern, SaaS-based solution to address the unique needs of each investment team. Olmstead was engaged to lead a multi-workstream cross-functional program from vendor selection through implementation, positioning the firm for future business growth, asset class expansion, and product diversification.

With an accounting and performance platform reaching end-of-life, the client was faced with a decision to replace the technology or outsource middle and back-office operations. Because the legacy technology was tightly coupled with the investment team's front office technology, the evaluation included an assessment for replacement of the existing proprietary OMS. Olmstead was engaged to lead the client through determining strategic direction – technology replacement or outsourcing – and assessing the market for potential technology solutions (accounting, performance, and OMS).

Post acquisition of a new affiliate, the client was looking to rationalize disparate operating models and platform solutions. The operating environment consisted of a fully in-sourced model servicing the acquired affiliate, as well as a fragmented outsourced model for the legacy business. Olmstead led the client through evaluating capabilities, controls, cost, and scale of the insourced and outsourced models, and assessed suitability of existing market solutions and identified opportunities for change.

In order to meet existing and future business demand, the client’s operating environment required transformation to enable product, market, and asset class diversification. The client engaged Olmstead as an objective 3rd party to spur creativity and facilitate ‘out-of-the-box thinking’ by leveraging our deep understanding of the solution landscape and leading industry practices. Olmstead guided the client in developing a vision for an operating platform (operating model, data, and technology) that was transformational, achievable, and positioned the firm for growth.

The client had been experiencing ongoing service issues with their current back-office provider. Olmstead was engaged to manage the due diligence process to select a new provider for fund administration, custody, and fund accounting services. Olmstead was then retained to lead the client through the conversion of portfolios, from implementation planning through the completion of parallel processing.

The client’s existing Fund Treasury operating model had been strained over time due to product growth and increasing complexity. This coupled with an underinvestment in technology, process inefficiencies, and key-person risk elevated the need to rationalize the existing environment and transform to address existing and future demand. Olmstead assessed the current operating model and identified opportunities for transformation to meet business objectives; including technology, data optimization, outsourcing, and organizational alignment, and produced a roadmap to guide the client in their Fund Treasury transformation.

The client had a small team of staff supporting their tax function in-house. Many processes were manual and time-consuming. They were seeking a premier accounting firm to take over the tax functions as well as take on half of the staff as a lift-out. The client engaged Olmstead to guide them through the due diligence process for selecting a tax services provider, from requirements gathering to RFP, through target state operating model and workflow design.

The client’s proprietary Billing and Commission platform was tightly integrated with their end-of-life accounting application. The replacement of the accounting application provided an opportunity to enhance the billing process and reduce the technology footprint via a modern, SaaS-based vendor product. Olmstead guided the client through a due diligence effort, assessing the market for potential partners, identifying requirements, and facilitating vendor POCs to assess functional and technical requirements and workflow capabilities.