Key “man” risk is really key “person” risk. Many firms struggle with key person risk within their client reporting function – that situation where specific client or fund reporting information, knowledge and expertise reside in the head of one or perhaps just a few of the people within the reporting team. Sometimes the process and specifics of the work-flow and procedures may be formally documented, but are the manuals and procedures always kept entirely up to date and written in a way that anyone can follow? Is the process auditable?
In the event that the key person is out of the office, whether that be for sickness or a planned holiday, the key knowledge and know-how remains with the individual rather than in the office. If the individual leaves, the knowledge walks out the door with them. This can be a serious and on-going challenge for investment firms to manage.
Of course, solving the issue really isn’t simply about addressing the key person risk or adding to the documentation burden or increasing the level of detail within the procedure’s manual. For many investment management firms, a fundamental issue is their reporting system and processes are incomplete. They don’t deliver 100% coverage for each and every client/fund requirement and they can’t automatically manage the end-to-end process.
In a model where the system does automate the entire end-to-end process and produces and distributes reports and content to each client’s precise and specific requirements, the production process is then the same for all clients, as the system automatically and dynamically creates the entire report without any manual intervention or “special” work outside the core system.
In this way, the entire reporting team become the experts, because any team member can produce the reports for all clients and funds. The specialist reporting knowledge is safely stored within the system and is used every reporting period to produce the required reports.
This model frees up the most experienced reporting team members to add value to your clients’ experience or within the department or investment firm in other ways. Let’s banish key “person” risk from the client reporting teams and unleash this capacity and expertise to improve your clients’ experience. We guarantee it’s easier, faster, more reliable and less expensive than you think: Reporting as a Service.
To find out more about Reporting as a Service please visit our website at www.opus-nebula.com and email [email protected] to arrange a meeting and see a live demonstration of the system.