Kovitz selects Advent tech in response to rise in customization requests. Chicago-based investment advisory Kovitz Investment Group has implemented Advent Software's Portfolio Exchange to streamline operations and integrate customer-relationship management (CRM) functionalities into its portfolio management processes against a backdrop of rapid firm-wide growth.

CRM integration

"Kovitz has grown from $375 million in assets three years ago to $925 million today, and we plan to continue growing," says Kovitz principal Bruce Weininger. "We wanted a single system for portfolio accounting, CRM, client reporting and performance reporting so that our data would all be in one, easily accessible place, and we were looking for a solution that could grow with us."

Kovitz was already using Advent's Axys for portfolio accounting. Implementing Portfolio Exchange -- which lets Kovitz consolidate disparate client databases and gain enhanced security and improved CRM capabilities -- is its response to a rise in recent years in the number of requests from clients for customized services.

Portfolio Exchange integrates front-office CRM functions with back-office portfolio accounting and reporting functions. It also provides the enhanced security that is necessary in a strict compliance environment.

William Penney, director of marketing at San Francisco-based Advent, says that rising competition and the increasing sophistication of private investors is making integrated CRM functionality more attractive to advisors. "[It lets them be] more responsive to the needs of their clients," he says. -FWR

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