Citisoft Develops Operational Outsourcing Evaluation Service For Fund Managers

Citisoft, the US and UK based specialist investment management consulting firm, says it is offering an Operational Outsourcing Evaluation Service, which it developed to assess the suitability of outsourcing for investment management firms. The service considers the financial and non

By None

Citisoft, the US and UK-based specialist investment management consulting firm, says it is offering an Operational Outsourcing Evaluation Service, which it developed to assess the suitability of outsourcing for investment management firms. The service considers the financial and non-financial benefits, risks and return on investment in light of the specific needs of particular firms.

Citisoft says it created a formal approach to outsourcing evaluation due to the large number of variables involved in any outsourcing. Citisoft has developed several proprietary tools to assist managers in evaluating, for example, future staffing requirements under outsourced and insourced scenarios, depending upon which activities the manager might elect to outsource and how the manager anticipates its business might grow or change over time. This scenario analysis enables targeted cost projections to be calculated over a specified time horizon for in-sourced and out-sourced alternatives.

“Whether or not to outsource operational functions is a recurring, strategic question for asset managers,” says Dan Houlihan, a Managing Director of Citisoft’s US operation. “We’ve helped to answer the outsource question for many of our global clients and have formalised the service so other asset managers can benefit from our depth of experience of outsourcing both institutional and retail activities.”

Peter Bambrough, Head of Outsourcing at Citisoft adds that “we can help to evaluate, for a given client, whether suppliers can provide a high quality, long-term service at a cost that works for both parties. We’ve been at the forefront of the global trend toward outsourcing, with our first project dating back to 1993. Since that time, we’ve completed dozens of projects for buy-side clients ranging from evaluation of outsourcing as a strategic option, evaluating and selecting providers, and facilitating the implementation.”

“Outsourcing is not always the best approach for an investment manager – and insourcing isn’t either,” says Holly Miller, Citisoft’s Region Manager in New York. “We can provide managers with a rapid assessment of their options – including outsourcing only a portion of their activities – and triggers that would prompt a reassessment. At the same time, we give our clients headcount and operations cost projections over the next several years based on projected future growth of the firm. This information is an invaluable planning tool for most managers, well beyond the issue of whether or not to outsource.”

«