What influences our product development at SS&C Advent? The most significant driver to our product evolution is direct client feedback, where they bring a challenge to our attention and we learn through discovery that many others are experiencing similar situations. The second factor includes trends witnessed in the market. This combination compels us to develop new solutions to meet the growing needs across the market and solve for critical business problems.
Such was the case in our decision to develop Advent Lumis, SS&C Advent’s data governance and automated workflow solution that is seamlessly integrated into Geneva®. In conjunction with client feedback, Lumis was developed to solve for the pressure on asset managers, hedge fund managers, and fund administrators to attest to the quality of their data to both regulators and clients.
Market Trends Impacting our Clients
1. Compliance. In recent years, we’ve seen a heavy market emphasis on data governance that is driven largely by new and changing compliance requirements. The focus is on either everyday compliance workflows such as SOC 1 reporting, or specific local or regional jurisdiction rules relating to data quality across the globe.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI). There is a rapidly growing market trend towards artificial intelligence. This raises a data governance issue, as AI is only as smart as the quality of the data powering it. In this case, the old adage of “garbage in/garbage out” truly comes into play. Firms looking to adopt AI functionality require quality data to power the technology.
3. Active vs. Passive. Another influential trend is the movement by active asset managers, traditionally invested in liquid assets, to incorporate alternative strategies. Unlike passive fund managers, these firms are under pressure to rationalize their fees. Diversifying into alternatives gives firms an additional avenue for offsetting fee compression and generating alpha, yet it also creates demand for greater investor transparency.
Simultaneously, as we were observing these trends, our clients were letting us know that the process of validating data integrity and accuracy through data exception management workflows is a huge pain point. It can be a slow, cumbersome exercise that entails spreadsheet workarounds, older applications, or proprietary solutions cobbled together. Not only is this inefficient, but it poses heavy exposure to operational risk and often results in inaccurate or delayed delivery of reporting.
Automated Controls for your Data Governance Workflows
Advent Lumis was introduced to both alleviate these pain points and equip clients in responding to the evolving demands of regulators and investors for greater transparency and stronger controls. Lumis enables firms to:
- Replace high-risk, manual processes with automated operational workflows that allow for more monitoring and less doing
- Leverage AI capabilities to prioritize data issues and actually prompt users on the actions to take to resolve an issue
- Implement effective data governance programs and ensure the integrity of the data that underpins their reporting and NAV calculations
Market trends and client needs continue to shape Lumis, as well as all of the SS&C Advent offerings. As the industry changes, needs evolve, and technology advances, we will continuously engage with our clients and incorporate their feedback to deliver solutions that are in tune with the times. If you would like to find out more about Lumis, read the product brief or request a demo.
