OAIM Platforms

CMC develops investment management programs that are as unique as the needs of your business.  We do not presume that one-size fits all.  Our services are customized to your culture and brand, sized to your business needs, offered on a comprehensive or unbundled basis, and with no conflicts of interest.

CMC can work with you to either build a new platform or restructure your existing platform.  We will collaborate with you to leverage your existing resources in a way that address your business objectives and needs.

If your advisory program already runs off of third party systems you can leverage our skills to complement existing systems with customized unbundled services to improve or differentiate your offering (e.g. investment manager due diligence, advisor training, portfolio modeling, custom projects, etc.).

Client Solutions and Company Profitability

The pressures to attract and retain the affluent investor are high and growing as the demand for sophisticated and customized financial advice from affluent investors grows.  To satisfy this demand in scale, and to do so with a straight forward and repeatable process delivered by financial advisors, requires a state-of-the-art open architecture investment management (OAIM) platform.

The largest financial organizations with relatively unlimited capital resources and superior distribution power have seen their proprietary managed-money platforms drive strong growth and profitability.  Noting this success, other intermediaries have looked to develop platforms in their own search for growth and revenue.

Unfortunately, this battlefield is littered with less than successful proprietary OAIM programs.  Building a proprietary platform is not easily achieved through internal development because it requires a pool of resources and expertise which increases in complexity when confronted with the reality of resource constraints, internal business needs, an established culture and the need to contribute to the overall profitability of the firm.

Myriad components must be integrated such as clearing, custody, trading, platform technology, research, including portfolio construction, capital market assumptions, asset allocation manager research and ongoing due-diligence, not to mention marketing and sales support and training.  And, if that weren’t complex enough, overlay management and vehicle neutrality are rapidly becoming industry standards.

Outsourcing all or part of the components of this process to firms with the necessary expertise can enable you to effectively leverage your assets and resources to meet business goals.

Outsourcing Your OAIM Platform

The first generation of outsourced OAIM programs were Turnkey Asset Management Platforms, or TAMP’s, whose bundled nature was initially viewed as an attractive solution.  But TAMP’s, for many, have turned out to be sub-optimal solutions.  While connecting advisors to investment managers, they provide low levels of customization and flexibility and offer modest research because their strength is primarily technology.

These short-comings combined with their high-costs are forcing sponsors to look for alternatives to these first-generation outsourced solutions. 

The OAIM platform value-chain is made up of eight components, seven of which can be outsourced.  The one component that cannot be outsourced is the most valuable one, your custom investment advice.  Each unbundled component, from the evaluation and design of a platform to performance measurement and billing, can be secured separately, sized to your business needs and resources, customized to your culture and orchestrated to deliver the client experience you envision.

Outsourcing enables you to build off your existing internal capabilities, while leveraging our expertise and resources, and keeps you in control of custom investment advice delivered by a knowledgeable financial advisor.  An investment platform built to your specifications will reflect your vision and culture and deliver the client experience you want, often at a price below that of current alternatives.

Next section: OAIM Content

For more information, please contact us.