Frank Caccio | OpsCheck

The Modern Workflow Series Episode 1: Jay Maher on Platforms for New Industry Workflows

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.9.3″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_margin=”-50px||||false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.3″ text_font=”Roboto Condensed||||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_letter_spacing=”0.4px” header_font_size=”32px” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”]Financial services are changing fast as private markets become more public, Web 3.0 takes effect, new market risks emerge, and a shortage of accountants persists. Additionally, finance professionals today increasingly want to work in a hybrid setting, a shift that presents challenges and opportunities.

Jay Maher brings his decades of experience in fund services to a discussion with Frank Caccio, founder of the OpsCheck workflow platform for financial services, about how industry leaders can rally around new standards for nimble, high-quality execution in today’s environment.[/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”]

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Common Questions About OpsCheck Answered

Hi. I’m Frank Caccio, founder of OpsCheck. If you’re considering adopting our solution, we know you’ll have thoughts and concerns. Let’s review some frequently asked questions.

Our teams are already busy, will OpsCheck add a lot of work to the day?

OpsCheck requires just a modest effort from any individual and takes very little time. In return, you receive a long list of benefits.

How do teams feel about having managers watching teams’ work progress through the solution?

When it comes to people being concerned about Big Brother watching, any good employee will understand the big picture and not worry about being held accountable for their work.

How long does it take to onboard and learn to use OpsCheck?

Onboarding is quick and easy. OpsCheck provides full support. Learning how to use OpsCheck is a breeze, especially once you start adding the specific tasks that the teams recognize and start using their internal jargon for lists and activities. The solution resonates very quickly. Take a look at the testimonial videos on our website to hear how clients support this claim.

How is my data in OpsCheck protected?

Of course, security is key. After spending 25 years in the hedge fund industry, we clearly understand the importance of data protection and privacy for our clients. OpsCheck uses Microsoft Azure for cloud services to store data. Client data in Azure is encrypted. We enforce two-factor authentication whenever accessing client data.

How does OpsCheck handle reassigning work and coordinating teams in different time zones?

In addition to assigning and reassigning work to individuals, you can assign work to a group or team of people. OpsCheck can then timestamp and distinguish who did the job and on what day and time. People working in various time zones and from home can easily synchronize their work efficiently since everyone is working with the same central repository of tasks.

How much support does OpsCheck supply?

All OpsCheck subscriptions include full support, and we’re available to help with uploading any work, providing guidance, or additional training. However, for every function that an OpsCheck administrator performs, our clients have a corresponding user interface where they can do it themselves. So once our clients are trained, they typically manage themselves and mainly contact us either for additional demos of the solution for other parts of the firm or strategy questions. We also include a full audit trail for any functionality, so our clients have full transparency of their work.

Does OpsCheck interface with other applications?

Yes. OpsCheck has an API that gives clients the ability to connect with other applications. It’s designed to help with two main use cases, but can be used for others. One streamlines the process so that users are not required to sign off on completed work in more than one application. The other automatically creates a task and assigns it to a user if another application requires immediate attention. We also provide various ways to extract client data. Additionally, we have built an OpsCheck add-in right to Microsoft Outlook.

How much does OpsCheck cost?

We believe that OpsCheck is fairly priced and adds great value. With OpsCheck, we combine features from task, project, and workflow applications into one single tool so that you can avoid costly errors, quickly resolve problems, and positively influence either prospective clients, regulators, and/or auditors. Those features are in addition to the solution’s primary purpose, which is to increase efficiency, enhance productivity, and make everyone accountable.

Check out the testimonial videos on our website from our clients around the globe. You’ll hear how OpsCheck has improved their operations. I would love an opportunity to hear from you whether you want to schedule a demo or simply learn more. Thanks

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Start your risk-free 60-day trial of OpsCheck by filling out the form:

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Is OpsCheck A Good Fit For Your Firm?

You may be asking yourself, is OpsCheck a good fit for our firm?

That question is crucial because there are a few scenarios where OpsCheck is not the right option. There are pros and cons associated with any service, of course. But OpsCheck is not a good fit for firms whose leadership takes a hands-off approach.

OpsCheck delivers powerful results, greater efficiency, and productivity, and promotes a culture of accountability and excellence in firms. If management doesn’t insist that teams use it and doesn’t actively check on the solution, however, staff won’t give it the attention it needs. People tend to not do things if they believe that management is not committed to them. Over time, if fewer and fewer people use the solution or more people use it in the wrong way, the positive benefits disappear.

This is important: Firms that subscribe to OpsCheck but don’t use it set themselves up for failure. The positive changes that come from using OpsCheck don’t all happen overnight. But they happen more quickly as leaders integrate the solution into normal business practices. Senior managers are responsible for making sure they and their teams adopt OpsCheck. It has to be a team effort to succeed.

Another example of a bad fit is when firms are overly attached to current practices. Research shows that firms resist improving antiquated operational controls that they don’t even know are cumbersome and have a lot of room for improvement. It is normal to be comfortable with the way things are. But good managers must always be looking for new ways to make positive changes.

OpsCheck challenges firms to think forward and take control of their operations. Imagine no more spreadsheets, email chains, and guesswork when managing operations. It bridges the gap between employees, departments, and managers by streamlining operational and workflow procedures. But you need to be open to making these operational as well as cultural changes.

OpsCheck is a great tool to manage all your processes and can deliver on its promises. But when firms use processes that are highly customized and cannot be accommodated through OpsCheck – or any other application, for that matter – those firms will never find an outsourced solution due to the extreme customization they require. They will need to develop their own tool and have constant development and maintenance costs along the way.

OpsCheck is highly flexible and can adapt to any type of financial firm. But it cannot solve every detail for every firm unless the firm’s leaders are committed to innovation. Check out the testimonial videos on our website from our clients around the globe. You’ll hear our OpsCheck improve their operations. I would love an opportunity to hear from you whether you want to schedule a demo or simply learn more. Thanks.

Start your risk-free 60-day trial of OpsCheck by filling out the form:

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The OpsCheck Vision

I’m Frank Caccio, the founder of OpsCheck. Early in my career, I was fortunate to work at Tiger Management. It was the premier hedge fund at the time. I had great mentors as well. They demonstrated integrity, leadership, and a great work ethic. That foundation and my passion for improving operations inspired me to create OpsCheck.

As I ran global operations at other major hedge funds, I realized how challenging it was to wrap your arms around every job, every person responsible, and every deadline. Operations managers needed an easier way to control and oversee processes and people to mitigate risk. I also wanted to transform operations managers to become more proactive rather than reactive, to help them anticipate problems and mitigate them before they happen – rather than reacting to fire drills.

So I created OpsCheck. Then someone gifted me a book called The Checklist Manifesto. OpsCheck is more than a checklist. But the book’s main theme was relatable. You see, author Atul Gawande emphasizes how checklists are critical in the medical, engineering, and aviation industries. The consequences of not following strict processes when you’re in the operating room or flying on a jet can be catastrophic. In the financial world, the consequences of operational failures and errors can also be extremely serious. They can cost jobs, money, and reputations, and draw regulatory scrutiny.

I was repeatedly seeing firms forced to close due to operational failures that better adherence to checklists could have prevented. The vision behind OpsCheck was to create a simple checklist-driven solution that delivered powerful results and helped firms thrive.

If you can ensure that every job gets done, every deadline is met, and make people accountable for the completion of their work, the benefits will be tremendous. You’ll quickly avoid costly errors, quickly resolve problems, and positively influence regulators, auditors, and prospective clients as they will recognize the command you have of your operations.

Bill Belichick, considered to be the greatest football coach ever, has used this mantra for years: If everyone does their job, the whole team will be successful. I want operations managers and their teams to be successful. I have a passion for this work because building and improving operations is what I’ve done my whole professional life.

Check out the testimonial videos on our website. You’ll hear how OpsCheck has approved operations for my clients around the globe. I would love an opportunity to hear from you whether you want to schedule a demo or simply learn more.

Start your risk-free 60-day trial of OpsCheck by filling out the form:

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OpsCheck Successfully Completes SOC 2 Audit

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OpsCheck SOC 2 audit furthers its commitment to security as it advances workflow software for investment managers

NEW YORK—March 28, 2023 — OpsCheck, the leader in workflow software for investment management announced the successful completion of its Type 1 SOC 2 audit as it enhances financial and investment firms’ control and oversight of the operational infrastructure.

The SOC 2 audit was conducted by A-LIGN, a compliance partner for more than 2,500 global organizations, helping them mitigate cybersecurity risks.

“OpsCheck is workflow management software for and by investment management leaders,” said Frank Caccio, Chief Executive Officer at OpsCheck. “Your team deserves workflows that are streamlined and adhere to your culture and differentiation. Investment management is a high stakes world, and we’re built for the workflows that define leadership in that world.”

Established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the SOC 2 examination is designed for organizations of any size, regardless of industry and scope, to ensure the personal assets of their potential and existing customers are protected. SOC 2 reports are recognized globally and affirm that a company’s infrastructure, software, people, data, policies, procedures and operations have been formally reviewed.

“A SOC 2 audit is a statement about an organization’s commitment to protecting their information.” said Stephanie Oyler-Rankin, SOC Practice Lead at A-LIGN. “As a trusted third-party assessment firm, A-LIGN independently evaluates client data processes and procedures, governance on internal controls and security posture. OpsCheck’s SOC 2 report validates its commitment to data security and protection, as well as compliance with critical standards to mitigate cybersecurity threats.”

Investment managers and financial services leaders demand cutting-edge task tracking, workflow analysis, and process oversight capabilities. Meeting this demand, OpsCheck includes highly customizable dashboards, flexible reporting functions, and enhanced collaboration tools. It delivers an efficient internal management tool for firms at all stages of the alts lifecycle and meets the external reporting demands of today’s clients and an expanding regulatory environment.

About OpsCheck

OpsCheck scales, tracks, monitors and documents every process, project, and workflow within a private capital or private markets organization, ensuring complete execution on deadline. OpsCheck enables demonstrated operational excellence meeting or exceeding the standards set by auditors, regulators and clients through transparency, detailed task ownership, documentation, and task-specific context. Founded by Frank Caccio, former Head of Global Operations for Tiger Management and Highbridge Capital, and COO for multiple hedge funds, OpsCheck consolidates contemporary workflow management best practices to reinforce and scale your operations success.

About A-LIGN

A-LIGN uniquely delivers a single-provider approach as a licensed SOC 1 and SOC 2 Assessor, accredited ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and ISO 22301 Certification Body, HITRUST CSF Assessor firm, accredited FedRAMP 3PAO, candidate CMMC C3PAO, and Qualified Security Assessor Company. A-LIGN ASSURANCE is a licensed certified public accounting firm registered as Price and Associates CPAs, LLC. A-LIGN may refer to the entities of both A-LIGN and A-LIGN ASSURANCE collectively as A-LIGN. For more information, visit www.A-LIGN.com.

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Start your risk-free 60-day trial of OpsCheck by filling out the form:

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See how OpsCheck can upgrade
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Using Private Equity Project Management Software to Improve Business Processes

Why would a private equity or other financial firm take a project-management-oriented approach to improve business processes? How would they implement such a system? What purpose would this approach serve for private equity and financial firms? What benefits would this approach afford to firms needing services for capital calls, subscription documents, compliance, and other responsibilities? The answers to these questions lie in private equity project management software.

As a distinct discipline, project management is a relatively new field. Although the concept has been around for millennia, recognition of the practice only started in the 1950s. Before then, project managers were simply professionals who handled many tasks in an undertaking at the same time. Early project management methodologies were limited to basic scheduling and resource allocation. Over the years, approaches like Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, and Lean have developed to address the growing complexities of different industries such as construction, manufacturing, and engineering.

Today, private equity, fund administration, and other firms around the world are seeing paybacks from applying project management methods to their financial-related tasks and workflows.

What Is Private Equity Project Management?

Investopedia defines project management basics “as the planning and organization of a company’s resources to move a specific task, event, or duty towards completion.” For example, when constructing a building (a single task), a contractor would use any one of several standard project management methodologies.

In project management terms for the finance sector, the planning and organization of a firm’s resources would apply to the day-to-day functions performed in the execution of its business (e.g., NAV calculations, reporting, reconciliations, treasury reviews, counterparty risk, document archiving, and other tasks). This is a business process, a group of related tasks ending in delivering a product or service to a client. When a private capital firm or fund administrator adopts software based on project management fundamentals, they utilize every available resource to optimize their business processes.

Adopters should understand some project management best practices. Not every firm needs a project management office or a dedicated project manager to reap the rewards of the discipline. Your company doesn’t have to join the league of large, multinational organizations like Bank of America or JP Morgan.

Today, many organizations rely on general project management tools such as Excel, email, Slack, Trello, Asana, and Monday to manage their projects. These tools are great for basic scheduling and task management, but they lack the depth and sophistication needed to support the complex financial operations of the finance, venture capital, and private equity industries. These industries require specialized tools that can handle things like repeatable financial tracking, budgeting, and reporting, which are essential components of project management in these sectors. Organizations without project management methods waste 28 times more money than their counterparts who use proven practices.

Why Use Private Equity Project Management Software?

Adopting a project management approach for business process improvements in the financial industry isn’t rocket science. Private equity project management software has made these solutions available to any firm wishing to improve productivity and, at the same time, mitigate operational risk amid turbulent conditions in the markets and broader economy. Project management systems, in short, boost efficiency and growth.

The most cost-effective means of accomplishing this is via project tracking software that organizes workflow and task management systems using an easy-to-use project management dashboard.

A project and workflow management platform must be flexible, adapting to different business models and processes. But effective project management software streamlines repetitive, mundane, and complex tasks. Best of all, it can be tailored to the specifics of your office and your project management plan.

In the highly regulated finance industry, there is an inherent need for accuracy and efficiency in major projects, from capital calls to auditing and compliance. Because of these demands, financial professionals tend to have a careful, methodical approach to their work. They need team task management.

Private equity project management software automates reminders, reporting, and compliance, freeing up managers to focus on more important tasks. These tools also provide real-time tracking, centralized information-sharing, and complete visibility of the workflow, preventing missed deadlines and improving project quality.

Along with mathematical ability and financial acumen, the sector also requires many so-called soft skills, like relationship management and communication. Using a system that can automate clerical, record keeping, and other administrative tasks, that frees up managers for this important work is advisable.

As software steps in to enable accuracy and efficiency with online project management, managers can be hands-on with investors or other stakeholders or regulators, supervising their teams, identifying cost efficiencies, or pursuing other areas of improvement rather than getting bogged down in distractions.

How Software Enables Private Equity Project Planning and Management

Private equity project management software delivers the transparency needed for full oversight. Having project task lists and complete 360-degree visibility of the workflow identifies issues before they become problems.

When your system has the built-in ability to track and record work in real-time, missed deadlines become a thing of the past and project quality improves. With centralized information-sharing, you get simple reviews and monitoring in a single location.

Powerful private equity project management software will drill down, providing data from your teams, departments, and custom categories. Red flags are quickly picked up, letting you focus on any workflow sphere needful of support. Robust workflow technology gives wide-ranging transparency for operations and compliance. All-in-one management of tasks and workflows will support all your essential operational objectives, such as audit trails and logs.

These critical records of a firm’s day-to-day business operations form a vital part of an operational risk management strategy. Not only does this fulfill the needs of the C-suite, regulators, and clients with auditable workflow logs, but managers can quickly see whether or not the company’s task and workflow ecosystems display well-ordered business processes.

This complete oversight and project quality control, which prevents delays and advances your organizational goals, is the value of project management.

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How Private Equity Firms Optimize Portfolio Operations

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The key reason a private equity firm would buy a stake in a portfolio company is to increase its value, then sell the company for a profit mostly within five to seven years.

For a private equity firm to get the highest return on investment (ROI), they often begin optimizing the operations of their portfolio companies immediately after they invest.

How do private equity firms optimize the operations of portfolio companies? Read on to find out.

What is the Optimization Phase of a Portfolio Company?

PE firms no longer just sign a check to their portfolio companies.

They get involved in management, strategy, hiring, brand building, training, and much more.

The private equity portfolio optimization process often involves the use of data and technology to improve operational infrastructure, risk controls, organization structure, functional process financial performance, talent and culture programs, etc.

This phase is usually conducted by the private equity operations team.

The private equity operations team is normally made up of accomplished executives who have a long track record in operations, management, finance, auditing, or human resource.

Ideally, the PE operations team should get involved in a portfolio company during the due diligence phase.

Getting the team involved early allows them to identify weak areas in a portfolio company and develop game plans to address the problems post-investment in the fastest time possible.

Key Things the Private Equity Operations Team Does

As mentioned above, the private equity operations team performs several tasks all aimed at optimizing the performance of a portfolio company.

Private equity firms will often deploy these individuals to their portfolio companies to do the following.

Foster good relationships with the portfolio companies executives

If the private equity management and the executives at their portfolio companies don’t get along, this could get in the way of the portfolio companies’ success.

So, the PE operations team is tasked with ensuring a cordial relationship is in place and everyone is working hard towards creating value for the business.

A recent survey by Kearney, a leading global management consulting firm, found that almost 90% of portfolio company CEOs expect to begin a relationship with the PE operations team during the pre-acquisition phase.

The minority want this relationship to be in place as soon as practically possible after they close the transaction with a private equity firm.

An example of how a good relationship between a PE firm and portfolio company can help improve a performance is, instead of exposing shortcomings and finger-pointing, the two can work to identify problems and solutions.

Get the right team in place

Private Equity firm executives are fond of saying “A great management team can make a good company great.”

That’s why when a private equity firm invests in a company they might let the current management stay on if their leadership positively impacts the company.

If the portfolio company is underperforming or at risk of having financial problems, replacing the management is often a top priority.

In the interim, members of the private equity operations team could take over the company and oversee the hiring of the right management.

Due to their experience, the PE operations teams are really good at finding top-notch talent that can grow their portfolio companies and give them the highest return on investment.

Coach portfolio company executives and staff

A portfolio company could be underperforming not because they have a bad product but due to leadership gaps.

Because a private equity operations team is made up of individuals with lots of experience in human resources and management they can easily identify the leadership issues and ways to address them.

For example, they could teach portfolio company executives industry best practices and growth hacks to improve the performance of their business.

Create a strong brand

Private equity firms know that a strong brand can survive product failures or economic downturns.

That’s why they are often keen to help their portfolio companies create brands that are people-focused and meet market needs.

The PE operations team usually has marketing and advertising gurus who can create strong brands, which when established can give a PE firm massive ROI.

Identify growth opportunities

One of the first things a PE operations team will do is look at opportunities their portfolio companies are yet to take advantage of.

The untapped opportunities could mean higher revenues for the portfolio company and better returns for the PE firm.

For example, a portfolio company could only be selling its products or services through a physical store.

A PE firm could see an opportunity online and develop a high-converting eCommerce website for the portfolio firm, which will increase their customer base and make the company global.

Boost productivity by using technology

One of the best ways to optimize private equity portfolio operations is by using technology.

The PE operations team often assesses portfolio companies’ operations and provides the best tools to eliminate repetitive and mundane tasks that don’t need to be done by humans.

They can also bring in technology that will help company staff communicate more easily, collaborate better on projects, and have all data in one place for easier and faster decision making.

Optimizing Private Equity Portfolio Operations With OpsCheck

Ops Check has customizable tools your private equity operations team can use to better collaborate and create more value for your portfolio companies.

For example, they can use OpsCheck to generate detailed information about a portfolio company’s processes. This information can be used to expose inefficiencies and redundancies which when addressed will streamline portfolio operations for better output.[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.3″ _module_preset=”default”]

Start your risk-free 60-day trial of OpsCheck by filling out the form:

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How to Build a Good Deal Flow Management Process

Hunter Walker, a partner at Homebrew Venture Capital (VC) is often quoted saying “you lose 100% of the deals you don’t see”.

As a venture capitalist, if your deal flow process is poorly managed, you’re likely missing out on a lot of suitable investment opportunities, and this statement by Walker should jolt you to improve on your VC deal flow process.

A smooth-running venture capital deal flow process will give you more exposure, which could lead to better utilization of your funds, reduced operational costs, and more profits from your investments.

But how do you make your VC deal flow management process efficient?

Read on and I’ll share with you how to improve your venture capital deal flow process. First, however, let’s define what deal flow is.

What is Deal Flow and Why is it Important?

Venture capitalists, investment bankers, and angel investors define deal flow as the rate at which they receive investment pitches and business proposals.

Proper deal flow is crucial as it makes a VC aware of all the investment opportunities that need to be on their radar. It also helps weed out the bogus investment opportunities from the many funding requests received and quickly convert the interesting opportunities before a competitor does so.

Most successful VCs are bombarded with hundreds of emails and calls from companies looking to be funded each year. These funding requests often reach them through:

Companies or entrepreneurs the VC has funded in the past.
Other VCs that want to syndicate a deal.
Their network of attorneys, accountants, investment bankers, or other professionals involved in business funding.
Finders. These are individuals who look for the best businesses to invest in and in return expect to be paid a fee.
Some VCs may also accept investment pitches from companies whose owners are not referred to them. Unreferred pitches, however, rarely get funding.

While a VC can receive lots of requests for funding, most of the requests are ignored.

While being interviewed at Stanford Graduate Business School, Marc Andreessen, a founding partner of Venture Capital firm Andreessen Horowitz said “Each year approximately 4,000 startups are seeking to raise venture capital funding. From an aggregate perspective, the top VCs fund approximately 200 startups per year, which is about 5%”

Vetting all the business proposals and investment pitches to pick the most viable can be challenging if you don’t have the right processes in place. OpsCheck offers a deal flow management tool that allows VCs to quickly vet and narrow down to the best possible investment opportunities for them.

A VC’s deal flow is considered efficient if it creates enough revenue-generating opportunities for the firm to keep it functioning at its peak.

Understanding the VC Deal Flow Management Process

How you manage VC deal flow can determine whether you succeed or fail.

To create an efficient deal flow process that increases and maintains your overall investment opportunities, do the following.

Network

Like any other business, VCs have to network to get a quality deal flow and learn the latest happenings in their industry.

Venture capitalist meetups, company launch parties, investor meetings, startup events, conferences, etc. are the right places to go build your network of people who can help create and maintain your deal flow.

Social media platforms like Twitter are also a good place to interact with others in the VC industry and build a network that can help you know the best places to invest.

You could also use startup aggregators such as AngelList and SeedInvest to identify companies you would like to work with, then reach out to them to network and begin working on potential deals.

Have an Inbound Marketing Engine

This is one of the best ways to improve VC deal flow. Inbound marketing involves keeping an active profile online. You can do this by creating interesting blog and social media content.

The content you put out should easily explain and answer any question anyone looking to work with a VC would have. Over time, that content will drive visitors to your website and social platforms who you can convert to potential leads.

Use Deal Flow Management Tools

From your networking and inbound marketing efforts, you should be able to build your VC brand. This will get you more business proposals and investment pitches, which will maintain a sufficient VC deal flow for you.

However, your exposure to increased investment opportunities could create an unexpected problem.

If you use Excel, PowerPoint, or other old ways to manage your deal flow, getting the data you need to make the best investment decisions could be extremely complex.

The difficulty in getting the right information will slow your decision process, something that can give other VCs a chance to make a deal with a company before you do.

That’s why you should use a VC deal management tool like OpsCheck to efficiently manage your deal flow.

With OpsCheck, you can organize the investment pitches you get according to industry, compile valuable data on a company, track all operations and maintain oversight across your VC fund, effectively communicate with your VC team and partners, and create powerful visual reports that will move deals forward.

These and other things that OpsCheck lets you do will ensure you have more concise deal flow information that will make it easier for you to make better-informed decisions about the investment pitches you receive.

To learn more about how OpsCheck can help improve your VC deal flow process, get in touch with us today at 732-221-9625 or email contact@opscheck.com.

Understanding and Reducing Operational Risk

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Although financial organizations have known about operational risk since business began, it’s only been an independent discipline for the last two decades. It still took a financial crisis and the ensuing flood of regulatory and enforcement fines and actions to propel operational risk into the spotlight of the financial industry’s concerns.

The operational risk weaknesses exposed by the crash of 2008 forced the finance sector to institute more robust identification and assessment methods for risk. And, the creation of better controls and control-testing processes resulted. But, despite this, operational risk losses still remain high.

Why? And what can finance professionals do to reduce their firm’s exposure to this type of risk?

What is Operational Risk?

In the finance industry, the Risk Management Association (RMA) defines operational risk as “the risk of loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people, and systems, or from external events, but is better viewed as the risk arising from the execution of an institution’s business functions.”

While the industry has made progress since the last crisis, there are several reasons why managing operational risk is fundamentally problematic.

For example, take financial risk, which involves market or credit risk–relatively straightforward. Not so with operational risk, where many different categories and sub-categories of risk exist.

Operational risk can occur from:

Internal factors and fraud
Data breaches and cyber crime
Products and business practices
Clients, third-party vendors, and service providers
Compliance failures
Linked to execution and delivery
Business disruption and natural disasters

Any risk that can disrupt or change how a company conducts its day-to-day working process is an operational risk. This would also include any threat to an organization’s reputation or finances.

The fact is that operational risk is impossible to eliminate. Unlike other risk types–market risk, credit risk–it isn’t usually deliberately incurred. But, because systems, processes, and people aren’t perfect, operational risk is ever-present.

From global financial giants to small local accounting practices and independent consultants, operational risk is a fact of life for every finance operation.

Reducing Operational Risk

The field of Operational Risk Management (ORM) focuses on diminishing risk related to the daily operations of a business. This is called operational risk mitigation.

Nevertheless, how can the average financial firm protect itself against these ever-present threats? The answer is to take a proactive approach, tighten up areas of concern, and remove known risks associated with the company’s day-to-day operations.

Successfully managing operational risk posits that predicting, preparing, and identifying potential weaknesses ahead of time will reduce risk. Streamline processes, remove friction points, and centralize communications to lessen these hazards.

While risk can never be wholly eliminated, technology has given us an arsenal of weapons to help control operational risk. But first, a firm needs a company-wide commitment to transparency and oversight of its activities and operations to manage risk successfully.

How to Get the Tools You Need

Managing risk well was easier said than done ten years ago, but now with the latest technology and tools available to the finance industry, things have changed. Today, firms can measure and manage operational risk through granular data.

The prerequisite is to set up and activate an automated system. The wisest choice should be cloud-based (for security), easy to implement, and provide both oversight and transparency.

Workflow automation has given businesses the ability to detect risk with affordable, real-time, data-driven monitoring. But first, you need to capture the data. And here, the data you need for analysis and record-keeping is all recorded, accessible through your workflow and project management platform.

What Automated Communication and Data Systems Offer

Every finance firm needs an automated data system in place. With the uptick in remote work environments, these have become critical tools for the continued functioning of finance organizations worldwide.

Within an organization, a proper communications channel is essential. Every member of the team should be able to communicate with the rest of the staff. A centralized communications hub allows all stakeholders to work seamlessly together.

Regular testing and rev of technology structures is a critical element of a company’s security measures. An automated system helps coordinate these efforts by tracking access to software, files, and third-party vendors.

In the current business environment, it’s important to tighten up security measures. Password integrity, authorized personnel status, and application of permissions tools should be regularly reviewed.

The best systems allow managers to set administrative access for specific individuals at a granular level. This protects private personal data and administration authority and controls third-party applications that may cause vulnerabilities.

Automated Software, Lockdowns, and Transparency

As the pandemic impacted the world, business continuity and disaster recovery plans were suddenly in the spotlight. Lockdowns and stay-home orders have caused companies to implement their plans revealing overlooked problems, weak responses, and unexpected consequences.

Having a primary communications hub on a shareable platform will keep your staff in the loop during business disruptions. This closed system for internal company communications is one of the essential tools provided by a workflow and project management platform.

With an electronic paper trail–automatically maintained–your business demonstrates a commitment to regulatory compliance. Guard against any legal risks by reviewing fee calculations, valuation procedures, and the accuracy of disclosures.

Due diligence has also become remote-based, requiring deeper scrutiny of third-party services and relationships.

A workflow management tool should address these problems with a range of features, flexibility, and scalability.

An application that encompasses operations and compliance control and oversight will mitigate operational risk. When your platform offers complete transparency and enhances communication, everyone becomes accountable.

Your business needs a system delivering proven advances in task, project, and workflow management in a single cloud-based tool. The perfect solution is a platform designed by finance professionals for the finance industry.

OpsCheck gives firms the ability to reduce operational risk while enhancing organizational value, security, and flexibility. Streamline your business and achieve operational excellence with OpsCheck.

See how OpsCheck can upgrade your Business Operations

A Solid Compliance System Mitigates Risk

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Does your company have an integrated compliance system in place? In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, compliance management is essential for ongoing success.

Compliance is a multi-faceted issue, depending on the industry, but most businesses exist under the watchful eye of a regulatory body. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the financial services sector, where every firm needs a compliance management system interwoven throughout the company.

Since 2008, the finance industry has had to adjust from comparative freedom to increasing regulation. Now the global pandemic has further complicated matters as compliance rules and regulations continue to expand.

But what is a compliance system or compliance program? Are they unrelated elements or merely different names for the same thing? What is compliance management software? And how does operational risk management slot into the equation?

This article will answer these questions and explore how you can shield your business from unwelcome compliance issues.

What is a Compliance System?

Simply put, a compliance system protects your firm from risk.

According to the Cambridge Business English Dictionary, compliance is “the act of obeying an order, rule, or request.”

In business today, this means your firm, staff, and third-party vendors must fulfill the laws, ethical guidelines, principles, and standards that govern your company and industry.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Reserve Board, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) are the key national governing bodies for the finance industry.

Depending on the location of your organization, there will be state regulatory agencies with additional rules and requirements. Each entity has regulations that must be followed by fund managers, brokers, accountants, and other finance professionals.

But compliance is more than adhering to federal and state laws. First and foremost, the goal is to keep your business free from fines and litigation.

With a compliance system, firms keep track of the multiple internal procedures that make up the company’s day-to-day functioning. With continual oversight, missteps are picked up timeously. This protects the company from problems that can hamper operations and add risk.

Put Compliance First

This is where a corporate commitment to instituting a robust compliance system delivers a massive payoff. Most firms will set up a program or system for precise, continuous monitoring of operations.

But first, we need to know how does a compliance system differ from a compliance program?

Both terms refer to compliance management and start with a group of policies and actions put in place by a firm to safeguard its operations. The object is to fulfill the laws, rules, and regulations that govern the industry and uphold your firm’s reputation.

Along with a high-quality legal framework, a well-defined compliance system is the foundation for a good organization and is made up of elements such as:

The compliance manual
Code of ethics
Associated policies (i.e., valuation, personal trading, trade errors, allocations, best execution, and soft dollars

Ideally, a firm’s compliance team will create the compliance system based on rules and regulations set out by the regulatory bodies. The team will also monitor the system’s use and see that everyone is following the program.

Merits of a Solid Compliance Strategy

The value of establishing a robust compliance system for your company is manifold. First, the tangible benefits:

It prevents fines and lawsuits
Avoids misconduct
Circumvents fraud
Protects business reputation

And the intangible paybacks:

Protects firm’s intellectual property
Shields your client base
Preserves the business’s brand

Throughout the firm, all compliance activity should be linked. Departments and employees must work together to maintain internal standards and external regulations. When the whole organization is engaged, the risk of serious failure or fraud is mitigated.

Getting the Team on Board

Nowhere is the adage, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” more accurate than in business.

Without a clear understanding of a firm’s standards and expectations, an employee can unwittingly become the most vulnerable link. The best compliance system gets everyone on board and fosters a company-wide culture of compliance.

A sound compliance system will also improve communication between the employees and management. By including everyone in the loop, staff know the rules, regulations, and standards they’re expected to uphold.

But, getting employees on board with your organization’s compliance program has additional benefits:

Staff can focus on the company’s broader goals
Operations run more smoothly
Employees recognize and report illegal or unethical activity
Firm accomplishes growth

A well-maintained compliance system will also help your staff do their jobs well and further their careers.

Building a Better Compliance System

A compliance system should be sensibly planned and carefully applied, but there’s nothing wrong with using a successful formula tailored to your firm’s specific requirements.

Initially, these guidelines were laid out in the Affordable Care Act and were designed for the healthcare sector. However, these key elements are a strong foundation for any firm setting up a compliance system in a highly regulated industry.

These are the recommended components for establishing an effective business compliance system:

Create consistency with written policies and standards of conduct outlining the firm’s compliance expectations.
Provide system oversight. Who will supervise and enforce the compliance system? Who will act as the firm’s “watchdog” to deal with concerns and questions?
Supply training and education for your employees so that everyone is aware of the firm’s standards and expectations—update staff yearly with refresher courses.
Establish shared communication throughout the company. Employees must be expected to communicate: reporting problems, compliance queries, or voice ethical concerns. Include a system whereby employees may anonymously report compliance problems without fear of retaliation.
Put an auditing and monitoring system in place. A method of internal and external oversight with formal audits will measure the success of your compliance system and identify risks.
Apply reliable discipline. Maintain the company’s compliance standards with suitable punitive actions for staff who fail to comply with corporate requirements.
Take consistent corrective action as soon as necessary. When monitoring and auditing reveal weaknesses or violations, act promptly to fix the issue.

An effective compliance system fulfills one of the main objectives of operational risk management, staying compliant!

Are your compliance goals clearly defined? Do you want to update or improve your compliance system? It could be time to apply technology to the problem with workflow/task management software.

Compliance Management Systems and Software

With compliance management software, you are maintaining your business process workflow in a way that lessens risk.

These software solutions offer features with numerous paybacks and can incorporate an assortment of business processes, including:

Acts as a central data repository for business-critical information
Allows sharing of information between stakeholders
Gives selective and restricted access to employees—dependent on their authentication
Distributes information accurately
Eliminates silos
Provides a well-connected work setting

Compliance management systems are designed to allow your firm to follow best practices painlessly.

A sound system gives you visibility and control over your company’s compliance efforts. Otherwise, there isn’t a simple means of tracking or measuring what is being done and by whom.

Staying compliant and abreast of regulatory rules has always been a mission-critical concern for financial firms. Organizations with a compliance management system in place can circumvent many of the operational risks related to their industry.

OpsCheck provides transparency and oversight for regulators and clients. Try our free, no-obligation, 60-day trial today.

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All About Audit Trails: What You Need to Know

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Did you know that well-maintained audit trails indicate a high standard of operational oversight?

From the IT staff to top management, effective audit trails call for a company-wide dedication to excellence in compliance management.

With the shift away from manual logs to digital automation, we can obtain audit trails that are easily accessible, precise, and useful. As a result, firms are better able to dodge threats and red-flag potential hazards.

When your company needs answers, a meticulous, clearly-defined audit trail will provide the evidence to untangle the issues.

What Are Audit Trails?

Audit trails are a set of records documenting the sequence of actions over the lifespan of a specific event, process, or procedure. Simply put, an audit trail is the chronological record of a transaction from start to finish, where every step is traceable and verifiable.

These records – manual or electronic – are used by firms to support operations, back-up security, and minimize operational risk. An audit trail helps auditors or administrators ensure operational integrity and regulatory compliance.

Industries in the finance sector like brokerage firms, fund managers, and accountants rely on audit trails to provide a step-by-step view of events. Actions and outcomes can be validated because the records show every detail of a transaction, such as users, dates, and times.

Audit Trails in Action

Organizations use audit trails for many different purposes. One company will use it for budget projections into the future, another for reconciliation. If a firm is initiating an investigation, the audit trail becomes a “baseline” for an audit. Businesses also use audit trails for historical information, risk management, and compliance.

For example, in accounting, audit trails can verify transactions that compute a firm’s revenue, net earnings, or earnings per share. The final figures – and their elements – can be double-checked in the log to confirm the closing numbers.

Mortgage lenders will use an audit trail to confirm the origin of down payment funds. They may want the bank statement showing where funds were deposited in the account and ask for further proof of the monies’ source.

Follow the Trail for Answers

As all audit trails record basic information, auditors and regulators can trace the whole path of events to their origin. This may comprise administrator actions, attempted logins, data access, user actions, or automatic system events.

Organizations define the elements contained in their audit records to answer these questions:

What was the event?
What application, system, or user-initiated the event (may include IP address/device type in the data)
When did the event occur? (date and time)

Some audit trails go beyond and catalog actions on a deeper level than a simple system or application setup. It isn’t uncommon for IT departments to use several audit trails defined by a system, an application, or an event.

Logs like these can pinpoint specific elements such as hard-to-spot changes to a database or the information contained in it. Dodgy email usage, dubious web-browsing, and other abnormal activity will trigger an investigation.

Reviewing and Maintaining Logs

Upkeep of audit trails can be a problem for organizations; logs take up a lot of storage space that a firm may not have available. However, it is recommended that an audit trail is kept for the record’s life.

Best practices dictate that an audit log is subject to periodic review, although every firm will have different review plans. Specific regulations may prescribe a period in which a firm must conduct an audit trail review.

Who Uses Audit Trails?

Most industries need to support operations, security, and compliance. Audit records defend a company against data breaches, internal and external security threats, and support compliance reportage. As such, they form an essential part of a sound operational risk strategy.

IT department personnel – like the network administrator or security manager – will usually manage a company’s audit trails. But any user, such as a manager, employee, accountant, or someone else who interferes with an electronic record, will be trackable in that log. This could be a person who accesses the record or a system automatically changing or updating the log, such as when a computer is restarted.

Multiple Benefits of Audit Logs

The ability to track records back to their origin delivers multiple benefits such as:

Transparency of operations
Verifies records for compliance
Ensures accuracy and record integrity
Protects system from exploitation or misuse
Secures sensitive or vital information

Audit trails provide four areas that unlock these key benefits.

The first is user accountability. By using audit trails, everyone with access to the system is encouraged to apply correct user behavior. Each user knows their actions are linked to their identity and automatically recorded. This reality prevents abuse of information, unauthorized modifications, or system misuse.

Should an investigation become necessary, events can be recreated step-by-step. What happened, and when, and how was it done are all answered by the audit trail. Having a clear view of this information helps identify and prevent future incidents of data corruption, hacking, system failures, and security breaches.

Audit logs help pinpoint system breaches. With clear regulations governing information security and confidentiality, controlling unauthorized access is paramount. Personnel information, company data, and financial records are also protected.

A solid operational risk strategy relies on well-maintained logs. Up-to-date monitoring of your automated audit trails will pick up issues such as system faults, operator errors, dubious activity, or other operational problems.

Audit Trails and Compliance

Maintaining regulatory compliance means staying up-to-date with the federal and state laws that regulate the way companies conduct their business.

When an organization fulfills regulatory compliance standards, it will keep all records and related data so that it can be promptly recalled at any time.

Most businesses use their IT department to maintain electronic records for control of record keeping. This way maintains appropriate and safe user access and tracks privacy controls. Unsurprisingly, sound audit trail procedures are most needed by the financial sector, health care, universities, and e-commerce.

For financial organizations, the old way of manual archiving is obsolete. Today, critical documentation is tracked through workflow management systems or everyday desktop utilities.

It’s easier to create audit trails in a workflow management system. A process-driven environment allows you to simplify reporting and perform checks.

Whether your audit trails support day-to-day system operations or aid compliance, they also act as a type of insurance. In the event of technical problems or a suspected breach, a well-maintained audit trail will provide the answers.

OpsCheck is the SAAS workflow management system designed by finance professionals for operational excellence. See how well our system works for you with our no-risk, 60-day free trial.

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What is the Optimization Phase of a Portfolio Company?

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Coach portfolio company executives and staff

Create a strong brand

Identify growth opportunities

Boost productivity by using technology

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What Are Audit Trails?

Audit Trails in Action

Follow the Trail for Answers

Reviewing and Maintaining Logs

Who Uses Audit Trails?

Multiple Benefits of Audit Logs

Audit Trails and Compliance

See how OpsCheck can upgrade your Business Operations

See how OpsCheck can upgrade
your Business Operations

See how OpsCheck can upgrade
your Business Operations

See how OpsCheck can upgrade
your Business Operations