How Elysys streamlined investment management processes for a large single-family office in the UAE

The need for a technology upgrade

Until recently, a large single-family office based in the UAE relied on Excel spreadsheets for processing its data, and transactions were manually generated for entry in Oracle. Their systems, while simple in design and implementation, hindered workflows and lacked key automation and integration functions. Recognising the need for a technology upgrade to address various challenges in their investment management processes, the family office began searching for integrated financial management software to achieve various key objectives.

First, they aimed to provide a single point of entry and a comprehensive platform to manage all the investment activities while automating labour-intensive routine tasks such as data entry and daily reporting. This would streamline workflows and reduce manual efforts, increasing efficiency. Second, they wanted to equip staff members and stakeholders with a platform that could provide essential insights to maintain operational efficiency and adapt to their evolving needs. Third, they aimed to enhance control and transparency across the entire family, with a new outlook on security and information flow, to ensure better governance and decision-making. Lastly, they emphasised the importance of evaluating, analysing, and staying up-to-date with industry best practices, while identifying key strategic players in the family offices industry, to drive informed decision-making and stay competitive.

The family office’s key requirements from their new financial management software were: investment as well as partnership accounting capabilities and customisable reporting functions supported by a pre-built data warehouse. They looked at several modern software systems before finally inviting Elysys SARL to propose a solution based on the implementation of Elysys Wealth and Elysys Analytics for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The family office judged it to be the most comprehensive software solution for its requirements, complete with investment accounting, open technology with easy integrations, and an attractive reporting solution.

The implementation process

The shift from a legacy IT system to a modern one can be complicated since it involves the transfer of delicate data from one system to the other. In order to ensure that this transition proceeded seamlessly, the family office assigned a project manager from their end who worked alongside the Elysys project manager. A methodology was then developed to enable teams from both sides to record and track the necessary activities on a change management platform. This was supplemented by weekly meetings to ensure that the project deliverables were achieved to the satisfaction of the teams.

They also had a number of organisation-specific requirements from Elysys’s reporting function. These changes were implemented, tested, and refined in the Elysys Analytics App. Finally, the ownership of the app was handed over to them in order to be primed for deployment by the management.

The Elysys effect

The immediate effect of the implementation of Elysys Wealth and other apps was the ability for the family office to record and track transactions more timely and accurately.

Elysys’ straight-through-processing system enables the family office to generate on-demand insights into its portfolio positioning and performance. It also allows for predictive analysis like family office cash forecasting by ensuring data reliability and accuracy across all records.

Lessons learnt moving forward

Despite maintaining a structured change management approach where the supplier works closely with both the business stakeholders as well as the staff, there were still unforeseen difficulties. These were amplified by the pandemic, since both the family office as well as the Elysys teams had to work remotely through Teams. Despite the implementation being completed on time, the family office faced issues setting up some of the critical systems since the Elysys team could not work on-site.

Unforeseen circumstances like the pandemic highlight the necessity of stating and documenting the project deliverables prior to entering the implementation across all the project stakeholders to ensure faster delivery and minimise attrition. It is also important to define the scope of such a powerful digital system during the deployment phase in order to ensure complete control over the information flow pipeline.

The Road Ahead

The next phase of the family office’s technology renovation project involves integrating its Elysys system with the various banks it does business with to automate the payments as well as the bank reconciliation process. This will provide additional efficiencies in the accounting operation and cash control procedures.

Their implementation of Elysys is an excellent example of how choosing the right software can go a long way to enhance the operational efficiency of any company. However, when making the shift, companies should also ensure that all the changes are tracked and micromanaged to avoid any loss of data or future software incompatibilities.

The family office featured in this case study chose to remain anonymous, and has been verified by the Simple team directly.