OAKS, Pa., Jan. 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SEI (NASDAQ:SEIC) today announced SEI Trade, an innovative, cloud-based solution that automates the paperwork-intensive process of handling, documenting, and tracking investors’ private fund transactions. The announcement comes after a year-long experience integrating the solution into the alternative investment arm of a major global financial institution and its various wealth and brokerage divisions.
SEI Trade was designed to help private fund managers upgrade the investor and financial advisor experience, while streamlining a notoriously inefficient and error-prone set of processes. The first solution to provide such comprehensive automation, SEI Trade offers digital document management, workflow automation, intelligent form completion, and real-time tracking and transparency of investor transactions. It streamlines and simplifies all steps in the fulfillment, transaction, and on-boarding processes. SEI Trade is a component of the company’s global operating platform and as such, has the flexibility to handle all major investment vehicles or transaction types, making it easier for investment firms to expand their product lines. Managers can use the platform’s analytics to gain new insights about their investors.
“In building this solution, SEI looked to address an area that our clients have felt was a cumbersome paper-driven process vulnerable to simple errors and process delays,” said Jim Warren, Head of Solutions Strategy & Development of SEI’s Investment Manager Services division. “Investment automation has been critical throughout the financial services industry, and we wanted to apply those improvements to the investment subscription process, allowing our manager clients and their investors to benefit from these technological improvements.”
As part of SEI Trade’s development, SEI created a proof of concept integrating the solution into a private Blockchain. Blockchain’s native encryption and distributed general ledger functionality lends itself to being the storage and delivery mechanism for the sensitive investor data captured in the application. The distributed ledger would allow for the delivery of this data to be near real time, complete, and highly secure regardless of the audience or use case.
Key features of SEI Trade include:
- Digital management of fulfillment materials and forms.
- Simplified, personalized handling of forms.
- Product-specific workflows.
- Real-time transparency and auditing.
- Customizable analytics.
- Investor qualification streamlining.
- Straight-through processing.
“Helping managers deliver a more competitive investor experience was a top priority for the SEI Trade development team,” said Warren. “Private fund managers justifiably have focused more on investment performance than on providing online access, customization, and user-friendly interfaces. As their business grows more competitive, we felt that SEI could help them compete on the investor experience front, too.”
Alternative investment managers, wealth management firms, and distribution platforms, many of which have lagged behind other financial services firms in bringing processes online, have the most to gain from this new technology, although other firms that grapple with paper-intensive processes can also benefit.
About SEI's Investment Manager Services Division
SEI IMS supplies investment organizations of all types with advanced operating infrastructure they must have to evolve and compete in a landscape of escalating business challenges. SEI’s award-winning global operating platform provides asset managers with customized and integrated capabilities across multiple investment vehicles, strategies, and jurisdictions. Our services enable investment managers to gain scale and efficiency, keep pace with marketplace demands, and run their businesses more strategically. SEI presently partners with more than 300 traditional, alternative and sovereign wealth managers representing $15.5 trillion in assets, including 35 of the top 100 managers worldwide. For more information visit seic.com/ims.
About SEI
SEI (NASDAQ:SEIC) is a leading global provider of investment processing, investment management, and investment operations solutions that help corporations, financial institutions, financial advisors, and ultra-high-net-worth families create and manage wealth. As of September 30, 2016, through its subsidiaries and partnerships in which the company has a significant interest, SEI manages or administers $751 billion in mutual fund and pooled or separately managed assets, including $281 billion in assets under management and $470 billion in client assets under administration. For more information, visit seic.com.