Challenge

The firm was grappling with several interconnected operational challenges:

1. Manual Process Burden: Quarterly capital allocation models required tedious, error-prone updates in Excel. As the Head of Finance noted, "I've spent a lot of time building out our internal Excel model that we use for capital allocations. While they do what they need to do, it's just the maintenance of it that's tedious. Every quarter one of our fund accountants goes and rolls forward from the previous quarter to the new quarter and has to update the formula references."
2. Administrator Inconsistency: After personnel changes at their fund administrator, service quality deteriorated dramatically with their transition to an outsourced model.
3. Staffing Constraints: With their controller preparing for extended paternity leave, the finance team would be operating at 50% capacity for several months.
4. Investor Response Delays: The manual aggregation of data across multiple files was slowing responses to investor inquiries.
5. Error Risk: Complex fee structures and investor equalization processes managed in spreadsheets significantly increased the chance of costly calculation errors.

Solution: Maybern Platform Implementation

Approach:

1. Solution Evaluation: The Head of Finance identified Maybern as the ideal solution to address their operational challenges while maintaining data control.
2. Co-Sourcing Model Selection: The firm opted for Maybern's co-sourcing approach, maintaining complete control of their data while leveraging Maybern's expertise and technology.
3. Implementation Planning: The firm implemented Maybern's platform with minimal disruption, focusing initially on automating labor-intensive processes.
4. Unified Data Structure: The firm established a centralized data model serving as a single source of truth across all funds and investment vehicles.

Results:

1. Automated Complex Calculations: The firm eliminated error-prone manual processes by implementing Maybern's automated calculation engine for waterfalls, fee structures, and investor-specific terms.
2. Enhanced Investor Reporting: The platform enabled quick generation of cross-fund reports, dramatically improving response times to information requests.
3. Reduced Administrator Dependence: By establishing their own data foundation with Maybern, the firm gained the ability to systematically reconcile with their administrator's data.
4. Operational Continuity: The automation provided by Maybern ensured business continuity during the controller's extended leave.
5. Improved User Experience: The intuitive interface allowed the finance team to quickly adapt to the new system and realize productivity gains.

Long-term Impact:

The implementation of Maybern positioned the firm for sustainable growth:

1. Significant Risk Reduction: Moving from spreadsheets to a validated calculation engine dramatically decreased the risk of errors and data inconsistencies.
2. Enhanced Investor Relations: As the Head of Finance explained, "Being able to pull information and respond to LP requests more timely and in a more systematic way will be useful. Our brand is obviously very important, and being able to be responsive and provide accurate information to our LPs when requested is something that everyone sees the value in."
3. Strategic Resource Reallocation: The finance team could redirect their efforts toward value-added activities like financial analysis and strategic planning.
4. Scalable Operations: The firm established infrastructure that could accommodate new funds, investors, and strategies without proportional increases in overhead or operational risk.

Conclusion

Through the strategic implementation of Maybern's platform, this investment firm successfully transformed its operational capabilities, turning potential obstacles into competitive advantages. By adopting a co-sourcing model that maintained data control while leveraging advanced technology, they created a more resilient operational structure precisely tailored to their needs.

The firm's leadership recognized that addressing these operational challenges wasn't merely about efficiency—it was about positioning the business for sustainable growth while maintaining their reputation for responsiveness and accuracy with investors. The unified platform approach not only solved immediate pain points but established a foundation for long-term operational excellence in an increasingly complex investment landscape.

By empowering their internal teams with better tools and reducing dependence on inconsistent external service providers, the firm created a more strategic, value-driven operational model capable of supporting their continued expansion and evolving investor needs.