My Digital Transformation During My Wall Street Career

By Bob Bonomo, Founder & CEO of NextSTOP Consulting

My most empowering and impactful experiences occurred while at a smaller, successful, privately held, U.S. Based Asset Manager, Sanford C. Bernstein.

I was engaged as a consultant, specializing in a vendor ecosystem they had chosen to implement across the entire firm. After a year of successful milestones, I was offered and accepted a full time role.

The company was known for its quality U.S. research and highly automated separately managed account process for U.S. products offered to U.S. based Institutions and High Net Worth (HNW) individuals.

Never satisfied with current state capabilities, leadership always sought optimal automation and best in class client service, which created fertile ground for many business-technology innovations.

My first assignment involved partnering with the Director of Quantitative Research. Together, over a 3 month period, we delivered a game changing High Net Worth Sales, Marketing & Investment Planning Engine and Ecosystem. We utilized monte carlo simulations, historical market data, internal models, client specific constraints, planned spending patterns and current investments to produce a customized 30 page graphical document comparing current allocations with lower risk, higher performing investment returns projected over 3, 5, 10 and 20 year periods. 

This ecosystem became the company standard for marketing to HNW individuals. HNW Portfolio Advisors brought in over $100 million of assets during its 1st year, and enhanced versions are still in use today.

The second opportunity was to take over ownership of an Institutional Small Cap Equity investment product.  In this case I partnered with and was mentored by a Senior Quantitative Analyst, who recently launched the product and was promoted to a new role.

Since I am more developer than quant, I decided to “wrap” all the internal models, datasets and various manual controls he had created into a true Analyst Workstation with standardized templates, tools, processes, inputs, views, reports and graphics along with “data override”, “what if” scenario analysis and other features.

This Small Cap Analyst Workstation became the primary tool used by analysts for investment commentaries and data management as well as portfolio managers for viewing model results, ranking opportunities and building portfolios.
It enabled the effective management of over a $1 Billion in Assets by a Senior Portfolio Manager and 6 Junior Analysts.  

A few years later we expanded the Analyst Workstation scope to include all the firm’s equity products.

While these two amazing experiences were educational and truly impactful to the firm, what happened next was my true aha moment with regard to vision, innovation, motivation, team building, dedication, empowerment and leadership.

The Board of directors challenged the firm to become a true global powerhouse, not just a participant but a thought leader in global investing … go big or don’t go at all!

“I’ve worked together with Bob, and he is extremely effective at distilling best ideas, simplifying the complex, developing strategies and aligning talent to deliver what he promises.  He was entrusted by executive management with strategic, transformational initiatives, such as globalizing systems, integrating teams and innovating in the areas of process automation and data driven decision making tools. Bob is unique in that he possesses a deep business insight and technical knowledge. This combination helps him be the effective leader he has proven to be."  
—Paul Bagnoli, Retired Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager at AllianceBernstein

Myself and a Senior Quantitative Analyst / Developer were selected to create this new ecosystem that  would help transform the company into a world class global asset manager.

It did not take me long to realize this was the biggest challenge of my career. It was a true “startup environment”, within a thriving company, what a combination! We, “The International IT Team,” literally started with a blank white board.

Our vision for this new ecosystem was a “Rubik's Cube” - any base currency, any tax regime, any risk model and any valuation model, all plug and play. 

Simple in theory but complex in reality.

We did some initial R&D, developed a roadmap, evaluated key vendors, designed core components and services and proceeded to deliver incremental functionality for the newly formed investment group.

First we built Product Engine Templates to manage security master data, pricing, analytics, reporting and end of period processing.  

After six dedicated months, we delivered a customizable, automated, scalable, multi-currency ecosystem for managing global assets.

Then came the team buildout.

We hired the best and brightest young software developers who were analytical thinkers and great communicators.

We embedded our IT staff into the research, portfolio and trading teams in a true business-IT partnership that elicited trust, communication and knowledge transfer.

Our incentive system consisted of financial, visibility and role mobility rewards. 

After further knowledge transfer our team delivered a Core Application Suite to serve the Research Analyst, Portfolio Management and Trading teams.

This ecosystem has simplified the integration of new products over the years and still thrives today managing well over $100B in assets.   

The company’s vision and our team effort truly spawned a company transformation, led to a global office and product suite buildout, significantly increased Assets Under Management and elevated their influence in the global investment community. 

Many of the original staff now have Partner level roles in IT or Business.

“Bob was able to understand the critical drivers of success needed for my role and put me in a position to thrive. He taught me the professionalism and accountability it takes to be a success on Wall Street.”
—Nelson Yu, Portfolio Manager and Head of Quantitative Equities at AllianceBernstein

The bottom line is an innovation “out of the box” mindset and great team building skills are required to properly serve smaller, more nimble businesses pursuing new markets, building competitive advantage, rethinking business models or seeking process optimization. 

At NextSTOP, we’re dedicated to the elevation of Small & Medium sized Businesses (SMBs) to optimal performance levels from a 360 degree perspective driven by Technology, Operations, Process, Partnerships and most of all People.

As the Founder and CEO, I value listening to my partners’ and teams’ specific experiences, that helped solidify their understanding of how to best move companies, departments, teams and people from Point A to Point B.  That is, after all, what we do.

What are your personal digital transformation experiences ?

If you are an owner or decision maker for a Small or Medium sized business, give us a call.

NextSTOP will partner with you to create a successful Digital Transformation experience for your company, clients, suppliers and most of all your employees.