Reimagining a Global Investment Firm’s Research Management Tool to Improve Utilization and Adoption

Client Review

Background

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a registered investment advisor firm. We manage investments in the public equity market, predominantly stocks for institutional investors like pension funds and endowments. We manage about $15 billion in assets and have about 60 people on staff. Our company has been in business for over 22 years.

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Opportunity / Challenge

What challenge were you trying to address with Praxent?

We had a proprietary research database, which we used to collect information on companies that we potentially might invest in and those we’d already invested in. The app was built over 10 years ago and had minimal functionality — it was starting to show its age and limitations.

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Solution

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve engaged with Praxent to revamp and further develop the application. We’ve done it in two phases. First, they’ve rewritten the program using modern technologies and platforms instead of the .NET outdated version that we had. It’s an update of the underlying technology, and we also have done a facelift to make it look and feel like a more modern program. The next step has been enhancing the functionality to use better the data we collect and do things like charting, cross-referencing data, and more functions to help us leverage our work to make better investment decisions.

We meet regularly to outline our vision for what the software should look like and take them through the existing system and some of its flaws and limitations. They’ve worked with us to understand the program and how it works. Then, they’ve spent an additional amount of time understanding what we want to get out of the end goal. We’ve talked about ways to break up the work into discrete sprints, which has allowed us to spread the cost of development over time. We make one sprint, digest it, and test it to let our users work the system. Then, we come back and do another iteration. Over a year, we’ve developed at our own pace.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been assigned a project manager who has shepherded us and been involved throughout the whole process. Then, they’ve brought in 2–3 developers to work with us.

How did you come to work with Praxent?

A developed on our staff found them. I believe it was through a recommendation from a colleague from his previous work. We also interviewed five other similar firms in New York, the US, and abroad. However, we clicked better with Praxent. They seemed to understand our needs better than some of the other companies, and their pricing was competitive. Overall, they just were the best cultural fit for us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2020, and our relationship is ongoing. We’re getting to the tail end of the project.

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Results & Feedback

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’ve rolled out features to users in batches over time, and we’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback from a practical level. We can now enter data more efficiently and faster, which has helped speed up our entry. Although nobody cares about entering the data into the system, it’s a necessary evil, so the fact that we’ve streamlined it has made fans out of our users.

Secondly, the project has been very impactful because we use this database to demonstrate how we think about companies to our prospects and clients. Therefore, it’s an excellent window into our investment process. When we present it at meetings, it comes across as more professional-looking and impressive than when the software was over 10 years old. Therefore, it has given us a lot of marketing cachet in addition to the pragmatic aspects.

How did Praxent perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been excellent at communicating. We have regular meetings, and they stick religiously to them unless we ask them to postpone or move them. They’re available for everything and have been very responsive to communication beyond the weekly calls. In general, they’ve stuck to the guidelines. If there has been a significant deviation, it has been caused by us changing the parameters.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to understand is outstanding. Not only do they understand what we need, but they guide us to things that we may not have reached on our own in terms of layout and functionality. Praxent hears what we ask for, but they interpret that and make suggestions beyond what we want. We didn’t know we needed those things until we were introduced to them by Praxent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think about that, but I’m pretty happy with them. I’d be stretching to come up with something.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to find someone you can partner with instead of just hiring someone to do a job. If you don’t come from a development background, you should work with someone who understands your business and needs — it’s important to find a partner that’ll guide you through the process.