02 Oct Client testimony from the FLORNOY & Associés Gestion management company about the Front-to-Back JUMP solution

In the words of:

Mile Wang

Head of IS and middle office

Context and requirements of Flornoy & Associés Gestion

Mile Wang: “At the start of 2012, when we filed our application for approval by the AMF (French Financial Markets Authority), our Managing Director believed that the company should have a PMS from the onset, a belief grained from many years spent at the head of management companies that were subsidiaries of major banking and mutual groups. However, this is not necessarily the choice made by all entrepreneurs starting out. The challenge was not whether to go ahead but which operator to use. Our Managing Director had the opportunity to see the JUMP project go through the labelling committee – asset management section – of the pôle de compétitivité mondiale FINANCE INNOVATION in 2010. At the time, JUMP was still a start-up; however, the project stood out from the crowd and Didier immediately saw the benefit of the solution for our asset and fund management approval application. We are now one of their oldest clients, the eighth oldest in terms of order of arrival. Didier also sensed the scalable potential of the tool as, of course, the risk of making a poor choice also implied reaching a dead-end if the tool was unable to scale up or was unable to progress fast enough to meet the needs of entrepreneurs – given that they require flexibility in order to take advantage of opportunities.”

Gains observed with the Front-to-Back JUMP solution

CONSOLIDATION OF OUR FUND AND ASSET MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

AUTOMATION OF THE FRONT-TO-BACK CHAIN AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE SECURITY OF MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

SUPPORT FOR THE ONGOING GROWTH OF THE COMPANY IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

A solution tailored to expanding entrepreneurial management companies

Mile Wang: “I think we need to tell the story of our company to understand the importance of the role of JUMP. FLORNOY is a family run firm whose history is closely linked to the Paris Stock market. The company was founded in 1819 and is still going on today albeit through a rebirth, i.e. under the name FLORNOY & Associés Gestion. The company is perpetuating the values of its forefathers who have been intertwined with its history while at the same time reconnecting with the fundamentals of discretionary management. We serve our clients whether they are individuals or not-for-profit clients from one of our four offices: Paris, Marseilles, Geneva, Brussels with investment solutions ranging from managed accounts of definite securities, dedicated asset management or open architecture multi-management. We are flexible and work with several custodians (depositories and appraisers) in France, Belgium, Switzerland and in Luxembourg, several French and Luxembourg life insurers, and with our two entities within the group: the parent company governed by EU rules and our subsidiary in Switzerland. We have nothing to lose.”

Mile Wang: “I would say that the promised flexibility, local focus and open architecture were facilitated by early investments and can be more significant than elsewhere, in portfolio management companies of equivalent size. Obviously, JUMP is the central plank of such investments, the point from which everything departs and radiates to other processes linked to the tool. We have managed to achieve the uniformity of the offer and service level within the group to attain a strong operational convergence. Consequently, there is a single repository for instruments, portfolios, configuration of commercial conditions and management constraints, while also having a single process for placing orders in order to ensure that our managers can concentrate on their work and not worry about the multiplicity of processes. Our account managers can suggest a given custodian to the client based on the interests of the client and not merely to make our life easier. This would not have been possible without using a PMS such as JUMP, as it means you do not have to use custodian and appraisal tools, to gather together all data and control your operations.”

A partnership on good terms

Mile Wang: “I have no hesitation giving my feedback to JUMP about my experience and the changes we would like to see in the software. Of course, and in common with any software with so many functions that are used in such complex businesses such as our own, some real or perceived problems may be experienced by users (due to a lack of knowledge of all the subtleties of the programme); however, the most important point is that we are listened to and any incidents are resolved rapidly. And in this respect, they are extremely proactive. I also have the telephone number of the JUMP Helpdesk on speed dial and do not hesitate to use it.”