Unlocking the Power of Total Portfolio – Unified Data for Asset Managers

Why Unified Data is Non-Negotiable

Without integrated data, the Total Portfolio Approach is simply an aspiration. Holistic risk views, consolidated performance metrics and enterprise liquidity analysis all rely on seamless data aggregation across asset types, systems, and time horizons. For traditional managers with growing private exposure, or for asset owners investing across a wide spectrum of vehicles, this integration is essential.

Key data challenges include:

• Inconsistent data granularity between public market tick level feeds and private asset quarterly NAVs
• Disparate sources from internal OMS, custodians, GPs, fund administrators, and valuation agents
• Complex hierarchies and structures in commingled vehicles or SMAs with waterfall logic, drawdowns, and capital calls
• Lack of common taxonomy for classifying assets, risks, and exposures

Each of these issues hinders a true “single source of truth” for the portfolio.

The Role of a Modern Investment Data Platform

Leading firms are solving this through the creation (or re-architecture) of enterprise investment data platforms (IDPs). These platforms act as the backbone for TPA execution, centralizing data ingestion, validation, and enrichment across the investment lifecycle.

An effective IDP typically:

• Harmonizes data across multiple sources and formats, including PDFs, spreadsheets, APIs, and FTP
• Maps relationships between investments, look-through holdings, sleeves, and vehicles
• Enables real time exposure and performance dashboards that support TPA decision-making
• Supports multi-dimensional slicing by geography, industry, currency, ESG factor, or strategy to reflect enterprise views
• Integrates seamlessly with risk engines, liquidity models, and compliance systems

Beyond Warehousing: Enabling Actionable Insight

Data centralization alone is not the goal; achieving consistent, actionable insights to support efficient decision-making is. With unified data, portfolio managers can compare private credit against high yield bonds on a risk adjusted basis. CIOs can see whether FX risk is overconcentrated across unrelated mandates. Boards can view performance, risk, and liquidity from one consistent dashboard.

Asset owners also benefit; they can finally hold outsourced mandates and direct investments to the same standard, viewing the total portfolio holistically and applying rebalancing strategies that were previously impossible.

Practical Considerations for Implementation

Getting started does not mean a full rip and replace of systems; many firms begin with data unification pilots integrating a subset of public and private assets to demonstrate value.

From there, key steps include:

• Establishing data governance frameworks to define ownership and quality standards
• Building a common investment taxonomy to categorize holdings consistently
• Layering analytics tools that leverage unified data for exposure, scenario, and attribution analysis
• Investing in automation to streamline reporting and reduce manual overhead

The most successful transformations often involve cross functional teams working hand-in-hand with IT and data architects. This often includes the integration of portfolio strategists, risk teams, and investor reporting leads to ensure the platform reflects actual investment decision workflows.

In a world where portfolios span continents, currencies, and liquidity profiles, only a unified data platform can provide the transparency and agility today’s investment leaders require. The Total Portfolio Approach represents the “what” of modern portfolio management; unified data is the “how.”

As Jeff Iverson, Chief Operating Officer at Eldridge states:

Creating a unified data strategy is essential for firms that take a holistic view of risk and that want to use the latest technology tools to manage that risk, particularly as the underlying assets we manage are more complex and the diversity of our portfolios grow. Additionally, we believe that asset managers who embrace the right new technology efficiently, with a focus on data quality and organization, will have a competitive edge in underwriting and executing on opportunities by becoming more efficient and targeted in our analysis and execution.