InvestEdge: Maximize Investments with Professional Wealth-Management Solutions

Product management

Up until approximately two years ago, InvestEdge had their own proprietary methodology that resembled Waterfall. As the company shifted towards a product-based approach, it became clear that the old product-management methodology couldn’t keep up with the fast decision-making process and flexibility that was required. So the product-management team became fully agile and Roland said that very soon they will shift again to use the Scaled Agile Framework.

“We were constantly at the mercy of our customers to get us information. So now we flip that. Our product discipline now is that we’ve gone out and done the market research to find out what the industry really needs. We do an ROI-based analysis on every feature that we develop. And we do not deliver that code if it doesn’t have a positive ROI.”

Roland said that at first glance these ROI calculations may seem difficult, but there are standard situations where ROI can be calculated based on the price to build the product/feature. The rest of the calculations are based on market penetration, known sales leads, promises of contract, etc. By analyzing the risks and benefits, InvestEdge can breathe easy thanks to a discipline-based model that focuses on driving value across an entire customer base and product line.

“Our average customer relationship is over eight years. With a single exception, we’ve only ever lost customers because they’ve either shut down shop or because they’ve been acquired. So we have a very high retention rate with our customers."

Tech stack

In terms of technology, InvestEdge is a web-service company. Their stack is .Net- and Java-based. Roland explained that the logic of using both .net and Java is twofold. For one, many components that InvestEdge has are legacy systems that will need to be reengineered and updated. The front-end is built on standard HTML, jQuery, and Kendo UI, utilizing a single database-management system.

To handle DevOps, Roland and his team have built a process around Build Master from Inedo. Build Master is essentially a framework that handles promotion and delivery through different environments. InvestEdge has development environments that are updated daily, directly from the development branches for every development stream. As a developer checks code in it shows up on the server on the same day, generating tight feedback loops from a testing perspective.

“The one thing that we do differently [in our tech stack] is our process distribution layer where, for instance, one of our features is doing large runs of report statements or financial statements for a bank. So if a client has to send out 60,000 presentation-quality, bound, [and] printed statements, we can do that because we’ve run that through our process-distribution mechanism.”

Managing and leveraging knowledge

InvestEdge has an impressive lineup of in-house experts that include Masters of Finance, CFAs, and CPAs. Roland noted that the chief software architect is both a CFA and CPA. In addition, Roland said that many analysts and several programmers are pursuing CFA certification in order to gain a deeper understanding of requirements, client-oriented services, and product management.

Apart from in-house materials, InvestEdge has a strong culture of internal education sharing. Roland pointed out that in recent years LinkedIn Learning has become a valuable resource for both financial and technology content.

Business and tech challenges

One of the biggest challenges Roland sees is identity management. He believes that ID management is the key to understanding how users relate to the data that is being used. To better serve the 120+ clients that InvestEdge currently has, Roland and the team are working on a way to couple a strong ID-management platform with a strong asset-management and traceability platform.

“Strong identity management, strong asset management, and a strong focus on security on top of that really enables you to build whatever you want. If you get those fundamentals done correctly then the product can go where it needs to. You’re no longer concerned with those things as a product offering. You’ve got the fundamental technology in house.”

Next year, Roland wants to make a push for incorporating cloud services, although he believes that most customers are not ready for it. This may have to do with the perceived freedom of the cloud, with data flowing in and out of computers and servers, so it may take time until clients are comfortable with the security and stability of the cloud. Instead of a public cloud, Roland is pursuing private cloud technology to change the way that InvestEdge delivers infrastructure.

WealthTech Club takeaways

InvestEdge has had an innovative edge on competitors for almost two decades. The fact that they have managed to organically grow and scale in the volatile world of finance is a testament to their attitude and loyalty to clients. InvestEdge is the wealth-management platform that financial institutions trust.