We sat down with Stella Maria Sørensen from C Worldwide® to learn more about their recent SimCorp® Fund Accounting implementation and to get to know her. The implementation only took 4 months to complete and the improvement in the C Worldwide workflow was apparent immediately.
What do you love about SimCorp®? It is a fantastic product, when working with automation and rules in general. There are some exciting events for the clients, where you can network across the world. Working in a smaller place makes you realize how much the system covers of businesses in the financial sector. It is incredible that one system can provide help in so many areas of investment management.
What modules/functions did you use? Fund Accounting, Internal General Ledger and a mix of Batch Job Group/Fund Events (most clients uses Fund STP instead)
What was your approach to implement? Regulatory requirements were the main driver for this project. Another goal was to get on a standardized solution, that was similar to our Danish peers.
Did you do this mostly on your own or with help from SimCorp®? The schedule was tight, so I guess it was 50/50
Have you made the workflow more efficient? Our performance flow has become more stable, we benefit more from our network groups as we are all on the same solution now and we have updated our system to work with the full status levels – that is up to the G/L status levels
Did you use any workarounds or was it all out of the box? The Batch Job Group execution is a workaround to using Fund STP. This has given some challenges to times, but is under control now.
Did you face any issues or complications? Our migration strategy changed very late in the project, as certain assumptions in the analysis were not accurate. But SimCorp® was very skilled in finding a solution
What do you like about the new functionality? Anything that especially stands out? I have enjoyed working with Fund Schemes. Furthermore it is fantastic to have the Internal General Ledger and have the possibility to create annual statements pulled directly from the data in SCD.
If you could change anything with SimCorp® what would that be? The Order Manager should be more integrated with the rest of the system. New functionality should come with recommendation to Best Practice, so you can get the best start possible.
Was there anything in particular in the project you would like to mention or someone to thank? Erik Jensen-Gaard from SimCorp® was a great project manager and a rock in stressful times. He worked with and supported our ambitious plan of implementing Multiclass funds within 4 months.
Stella has worked with SimCorp Dimension® since 2004, 8 years at SimCorp® and since 2015 as System Manager of SCD with C Worldwide. Stella is responsible for running SCD projects at C Worldwide and for Operations tasks of SCD from front to back. We asked her a few more questions.
What is your proudest SimCorp® moment? This is difficult. Maybe when I managed to create a Communication Server Expert course, where SimCorp® Consultants within this area finally could meet, network and learn the processes behind this tool. That was a new angle to working with this tool.
What are your favourite places to visit? A spot in Finland called Sumianen, where you are surrounded by forrest and lakes.
What is the most memorable book you you’ve read?Tuesdays with Morrie.
Favourite meal you like to cook? I am not that found of cooking. I prefer going for dinner at a nice restaurant. Then I relax while eating. Or entertain while others will do the cooking.