Access to high quality information is key to investment decision-making. Over recent years we have embarked on a journey to materially upgrade our investment data and analytics capabilities.

We’ve made great progress.

We have completely redesigned our operating model for the sourcing, management and delivery of investment data. In the process we have established important new external partnerships to leverage best in class technology services and skills. Consequently we are enjoying a boost to the quality, scope and timeliness of the data we need to run our portfolios.

We have also built a new platform for the sharing and interrogation of data. These advanced consumption capabilities are giving us more visibility into our portfolio exposures, transforming data into insights and in turn helping us to generate strong returns and manage risk effectively.

So what does this look like in practice?

We have built a tool we call DataShare which allows our investment teams to easily access and publish data sets for consumption by other members of the investment team. Analysts need to produce data to assist in portfolio design and quantitative analysis and DataShare enables them to consolidate and manage all their required data in one centralised location. It also facilitates collaboration between teams.

We have developed business intelligence tools that can adopt new sources of information, make them readily available across our investment teams, and allow them to be easily accessed via user-friendly dashboards.

These tools are improving the quality, reliability and speed by which data gets to our investment teams, and how they access it. Improvements to our workplace technology and mobility solutions means these new tools are available wherever our staff are: in the office, at home or on the road.

The application of these tools is freeing up our Analysts’ time, which they can now spend on value add activities, leading to real productivity gains.

What’s next? The development of a new technology and data strategy to determine our roadmap for the years ahead. Our Chief Technology Officer, Richard Large, discusses this on page 17.