Success Story - FRED Financial Data AG

FRED ensures data integrity and quality with Qlik

‘QlikSense provides FRED with an effective platform to ensure data quality control and integrity to fulfil its operational processes and regulatory requirements. This enables FRED to meet the needs of its customers efficiently and quickly.’

Sara Khaleghi, Business Analyst and Development, FRED Financial Data AG

The customer

FRED Financial Data AG is a Swiss company that offers asset managers portfolio management, CRM and data archiving services as a BPO. Under the motto ‘By asset managers for asset managers’, FRED ensures that data quality and integrity are always maintained. The company supports asset managers in adhering to compliance regulations and offers solutions for efficient process standardisation. FRED works in partnership with leading technology providers and helps asset managers to overcome regulatory and technological challenges.

Solution at a glance

Industry: Financial Services
Function: Support for asset management companies; BPO
Region: Zurich, Switzerland
Data sources: Portfolio management systems, CRM, Next data archiving solution, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne accounting solution
Technology used: QlikView, Qlik Sense
ROI & Time-to-value: Ensuring data integrity and quality in asset management

Initial situation

The foundation for integral investment decisions, effective risk management and compliance with regulatory requirements is precise and reliable data. Asset managers rely on high-quality data to optimise portfolios, conduct market analyses and make strategic decisions. Poor data quality can lead to inaccurate analyses, incorrect forecasts and ultimately financial losses. Ensuring data integrity and accuracy is therefore key to ensuring success and competitiveness in asset management.

Ensuring data integrity and quality

The mission of the Swiss company FRED Financial Data AG (FRED) is to support asset managers in ensuring data integrity and quality and in establishing efficient and compliant processes. The centrepiece of its offering is the holistic operation of outsourced portfolio management systems, CRM and data archiving solutions.

FRED wanted to ensure that the master data is harmonised. This applies to the CRM and portfolio management systems. Information from 94 different custodian banks is processed in these systems. In addition, the accounting solution JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and the archiving solution Next were to be integrated. For this reason, FRED was looking for suitable software. At the same time, relevant information from the application should be able to be processed for analytical analyses.

Solution

Migration to Qlik Sense

QlikView was initially used for both requirements. Later, FRED decided to migrate to Qlik Sense: Compared to QlikView, Qlik Sense offers a more flexible licensing model and an improved user interface that is more intuitive and enables faster creation and customisation of reports and dashboards. In addition, Qlik Sense offers web access, allowing users to use Qlik from anywhere and on different devices. FRED Informatec enlisted the services of experienced Qlik technology experts for the project implementation.

Know-how transfer through coaching

Informatec used a coaching approach for the migration to Qlik Sense. The aim of the Qlik Elite Channel Partner was to provide FRED employees with a deep understanding and practical skills for using Qlik Sense, enabling them to optimise their independent use of the data analytics solution. This included a joint proof of concept as well as on-site training and supplementary online training.

Informatec Data Intelligence Academy

All of FRED's applications were then migrated independently and smoothly. FRED no longer requires support for the use of Qlik Sense. In individual cases, such as in the context of controlling Qlik Sense via Section Access, Informatec provided and continues to provide support.

Qlik Sense is operated on a server in FRED's private cloud.

Qlik Sense

Freedom for the intuition

Qlik Sense is a revolutionary application that enables anyone to create self-service data visualisation, personalised reports and dynamic dashboards.

QLIK SENSE

Application area and users

Master data synchronisation and analytics with Qlik

Among other things, FRED uses Qlik for securities management. It checks daily whether there are any discrepancies between the Wealth & Asset Management software and the CRM system in the information on financial securities. ‘We manage around 15,000 financial securities. Looking for discrepancies manually is almost impossible,’ says Peter Muster, Application Specialist, FRED Financial Data AG. ‘With Qlik, we can see at a glance where corrections are needed.’ Prices are also synchronised. If statements are required, Qlik can be used to check whether the relevant information is available in the archive.

For example, users can use the Qlik application to see whether there are value discrepancies between the data in PMS and the accounting solution that need to be corrected, which are displayed in red, or whether everything is ‘in the green’. Customers can also compare the bank statements with the values held in the portfolio management system.

Data is transferred from the applications and from a data warehouse, in which historicised data is stored, via automated tasks at set times.

Transparent and consistent data

For Peter Muster, the main added value of Qlik lies in the accelerated analysis of data and the assurance of high data quality. If the data is inaccurate or incorrect, transactions could be carried out that do not correspond to the client's strategic objectives or risk profiles. This can lead to financial losses, poor portfolio performance and therefore a reduction in customer satisfaction. ‘The accuracy and integrity of data is the basis for sound and precise investment decisions that optimise portfolios in the long term and maintain client confidence. Qlik helps us to ensure the accuracy, completeness and consistency of the data.’

‘Thanks to its intuitive user interface, Qlik Sense enables rapid identification, analysis and visualisation of trends as well as comprehensive and regular analysis of key figures across various dimensions,’ adds Sara Khaleghi, Application Specialist, FRED Financial Data AG.

Future

Regulatory reporting, which provides important information for compliance with legal regulations, is also to be mapped in Qlik in future. It provides information on the number of professional and non-professional customers and the countries in which they are distributed.

‘Thanks to the automation of data transfer and the analysis capabilities of Qlik Sense, we can ensure the accuracy and completeness of our data for portfolio management.’

Peter Muster, Application Specialist, FRED Financial Data AG