Rebuilding a Transfer Agency System in 7 Months

Delivered a resilient, extensible internal platform in under 7 months; saved over $1,000,000 per year in licensing and support; supported continuous development and compliance for 15 years; launched a Fund Manager Portal and Investor Portal integration. Platform decommissioned in 2024.

£46bn
Assets Under Administration
$1M+
Annual licensing & support savings
7 months
Delivery including data conversions
15 years
Operational record with near-continuous availability

Context

Client: a mid-sized fund administrator. The legacy transfer agency system required ongoing support and incremental feature work, but its architecture, disaster recovery and user experience prevented safe, sustainable development during a period of market stress.

Approach

  • Executive alignment – secured CTO buy-in to rebuild the foundation with DR and UX at the core.
  • Discovery Sprint – scoped recovery objectives, critical flows and migration constraints.
  • Modular, secure core – strong configuration control and granular role/functional security; optional modules for specialist features.
  • Data and release strategy – full data conversions and a parallel production release with a one-week acceptance window.
  • Operational readiness – automated recovery tests, runbooks and a phased migration plan; established continuous development cadence.
  • Product extension – launched a Fund Manager Portal and integrated an Investor Portal for secure investor document access.

Why this worked

Operational leadership, full stakeholder access and rapid, evidence-led iteration turned a risky rebuild into a durable success.

  • Operationally literate leadership – the CTO’s operational background kept the team focused on practical recovery objectives and usable workflows, enabling rapid prototyping and validation.
  • Full stakeholder access – direct engagement with CEO, COO, Head of Compliance and end users allowed the team to observe real work, surface latent needs and deliver practical solutions.
  • Rapid POCs and iteration – short prototypes validated ideas early, reduced risk and accelerated adoption across the business.

End users later reported difficulty finding equivalent systems at rival administrators – a strong indicator of the platform’s practical value and usability.

Continuous development

From 2009-2024 the platform evolved to meet business and regulatory needs: private equity support for US market opportunities, compliance extensions for FATCA and CRS reporting, and ongoing feature delivery to support new market requirements.

Outcomes

  • Recovery time reduced from hours to minutes for critical services.
  • Annual savings in excess of $1,000,000 through consolidation and removal of multiple third-party licences (ITSM, HR, project management).
  • Security and governance improved via granular role and functional controls.
  • Business continuity – preserved operational continuity through the post-crisis period and supported the company through acquisition.
  • Sustained value – maintainability and extensibility supported continuous feature delivery for 15 years.

Key takeaways

  1. Prioritise a stable foundation when core architecture, DR and UX limit safe delivery.
  2. Build configuration control and granular security into the core to enable safe, rapid change.
  3. Design modularly so specialist features can be added without bloating the core.
  4. Validate migrations with parallel releases and short acceptance windows.
  5. Treat internal platforms as products to reveal commercial and operational opportunities.