Vestmark
Company: Vestmark, Wakefield, MA
Entry Submitted BY: River Communications
Company Description: Vestmark provides a unified wealth management platform offering comprehensive, real time technology that enables broker dealers, investment managers, RIAs, bank trusts, and other financial firms to deliver holistic wealth management and a full range of advisory solutions.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Use of Technology in Customer Service
Nomination Title: Vestmark’s Cloud-Based Workflow and Collaboration Solution Seamlessly Streamlines Investment Operations to Drive Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty
Tell the story about how technology has improved your customer service initiatives since the beginning of July 2012 (up to 525 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
Since its inception in 2001, Vestmark has been helping financial services firms better serve their clients while gathering more assets, increasing efficiency, and minimizing risks. In 2013, Vestmark introduced its Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) service for clients of VestmarkONE, a unified wealth management platform offering comprehensive, real-time technology that enables a wide range of financial firms to deliver holistic wealth management and a full range of advisory solutions.
Across the financial industry, critical investment operations continue to be performed through an inefficient amalgamation of document formats and document management tools. Management of investor accounts requires significant documentation, and incredibly, much of this process is executed in hard copy paper formats, including faxes, printed emails, and snail mail.
In addition, depending on the needs of the investor, multiple parties are involved in managing and trading the investor’s portfolio. Financial advisors utilize investment capabilities within their firm, as well as best-in-class third-party investment management where a particular expertise is needed, such as the management of fixed income securities or international exposure. And once the portfolio targets have been established, more firms may be involved in trading activities and services requests for the account. With a portion of this process dependent on fax or traditional mail, execution can take hours, if not days, when having to coordinate between the financial advisor, their firm, the third-party investment manager, and other trusted counterparties.
To combat this widespread inefficiency, Vestmark BPO utilizes a cloud-based workflow and collaboration tool that provides middle- and back-office administrative and operational services. Vestmark BPO allows financial firms to flexibly outsource operational functions to Vestmark so firms can focus on their core competencies and business needs. Clients have the flexibility to choose which BPO services they need to create a highly efficient operating model based on VestmarkONE technology. With Vestmark BPO, all middle- and back-office processes move entirely online, putting all required documentation at the advisor’s fingertips by facilitating communication among participants and retaining an audit trail, thus enabling instantaneous execution of requests and approvals.
Opening a new account and investing illustrates the benefits. To open a new account, an advisor and her broker-dealer must produce a series of documents to capture the investor’s investment objectives, the advisor’s proposed solution, and the investor’s acceptance to the proposal; perform background and suitability checks on the investor and open and reconcile an account on behalf of the investor; obtain trade authorization documentation approvals for the new account from the advisor’s firm and third-party investment managers; and notify all parties that the account is in good order and ready to be managed.
Vestmark BPO enables the advisor to execute this process in a fraction of the time for current industry norms. The result is dramatically improved response times and enhanced service to the end investor. This has a palpable impact on financial firms’ ability to perform essential tasks, such as opening accounts, executing trades, handling investor cash and tax requests, and more.
As of December 2013, the Vestmark BPO is servicing 12 firms that collectively represent $12 billion of client assets and 45,000 investor accounts.
Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated customer service organization:
Steve Camp, Senior Vice President of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), is responsible for directing the convergence of financial service providers to Vestmark BPO, developing the staff and facilities for the BPO unit, and creating and implementing the strategic development of Vestmark‘s BPO division. Steve joined Vestmark in January of 2013 in conjunction with Vestmark‘s acquisition of the SMA outsourcing group within UMB. Prior to joining Vestmark, Steve held Product Manager positions at both UMB and JP Morgan, directing the outsourcing businesses. Collectively, Steve brings over 25 years of industry experience to Vestmark.