About RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA)
RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA) is a real estate investment advisory that provides customized and aligned consulting and advisory solutions to investors. Institutional investors, such as pension funds, endowment, insurance companies, and financial institutions, leverage RCLCO’s analytical approach, deep knowledge, and experience in research, consulting, investment management, property operations, and lending. The firm focuses on identifying investments likely to experience growing demand and the benefits of operational expertise. An affiliate of RCLCO Real Estate Consulting, RFA was established in 2011 and has been an SEC Registered Investment Advisor since 2014.
The challenge
Given the breadth, depth, and variety of the funds that RCLCO manages for its institutional client, a top U.S. public pension fund, the amount of data coming in can be overwhelming. Adding to the challenge was the fact that RCLCO had to gather data from PDFs, Excel files, and Word files, which was anything but easy, according to Jomar Ereso, Managing Director, Reporting/Finance and Chief Compliance Officer for RCLCO.
“That model becomes a nightmare when you’re trying to do any form of analysis because all your data is scattered across the universe. Just finding the answer to a question about an asset can be more difficult than it needs to be,” Ereso says.
As a result, RCLCO was spending far too much time simply aggregating data, and that didn’t leave much time for actual data mining and analysis – which are critical for informed decision-making. A further complication is the fact that RCLCO’s client was using different systems for their data tracking.
“We draw data from separate accounts or joint ventures, which have very complex structures with respect to how the investor and its partner interact with each other within the deal,” Ereso says. “The more people you’re dealing with, the more complex it gets.”
With so many demands on the company’s resources, Jomar set out to find an asset management solution that could simplify data aggregation and enable advanced analysis. At the top of RCLCO’s wish list was a system that would store data in a consistent format and free up more time for data analysis.
“In terms of investment structures, we’re dealing with waterfall, we’re dealing with a promote, percentage splits of the equity and the rights to the NAV, and more. Those can and will change over time, and Pereview will allow us to keep pace with those changes easily.”
Jomar Ereso
The solution
Prior to Pereview, RCLCO tried a different asset management system with less-than-desirable results. Implementations are never easy, especially when they involve an active system with a lot of moving pieces and complex structures that an organization relies on for its day-to-day work. When issues inevitably arise during implementation, a provider has to be available to solve those problems with the least amount of disruption. That availability was a major challenge with RCLCO’s first provider.
“With our previous system, we encountered significant issues with implementation, including very poor response rates, if we got a response at all. We were not getting the level of service we needed to address whatever implementation issues we were going through,” Ereso says.
Eventually, it became clear that the system being implemented would not work, so RCLCO pulled the plug and looked for a different solution. After evaluating several solutions, the company selected the Pereview asset management platform.
“Pereview is the most suited to what we need, which is a standalone asset management platform with a lot of flexibility to allow us to do more self-service with PowerBI, rather than having to get into the code,” Ereso says.
What made the previous process even more challenging was that RCLCO received data from its operating partners in a variety of formats from dozens of disparate systems. With Pereview, the company has streamlined this process with integrations to the property management and general ledger systems at the property level, which is supplemented through Pereview’s data management services team.
“In terms of investment structures, we’re dealing with waterfall, we’re dealing with a promote, percentage splits of the equity and the rights to the NAV, and more. Those can and will change over time, and Pereview will allow us to keep pace with those changes easily,” Ereso says.
Results
Successful asset management is very data-driven, so being able to find and analyze the data you need, when you need it, can lead to better decision-making. With Pereview, RCLCO has a solution that will help avoid the mad scramble to gather data for analysis.
Ereso says RCLCO recognized the need for a robust, integrated, standalone solution with well-qualified and competent customer service, and that’s what the firm found in Pereview.
Unlike RCLCO’s previous provider, Ereso says Pereview’s team has been responsive with support and even customizations of both the asset management software as well as reports that the firm needs to properly manage its data and assets.
“When I ask for something, they actually listen, and they’re available to help us with whatever we need,” he says.
RCLCO has been live on the software for a while now, and Ereso expects the firm to get even more benefits from the solution as time goes on.
“We’re probably just scratching the surface on what Pereview will empower us to do. As we continue to push the platform, we’re seeing how valuable the full capabilities will be to increase our internal efficiencies and helping our client make better, data-based decisions,” he says.
