William Rogers
Consulting Principal
William A. (Billy) Rogers is a senior investments, finance, and operations transformation executive with more than 25 years of experience modernizing asset management, trading, and fintech organizations in highly regulated global environments. He brings an end-to-end command of investment operating models — from strategy development through trading infrastructure, IBOR interactions, reporting, controls, and regulatory frameworks — delivering measurable outcomes including 3X throughput gains, zero-fail execution records, and material cost reductions.
Most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer at Thornburg Investment Management, Billy oversaw a comprehensive overhaul of the firm’s trading and operations platform — enabling scalability, risk mitigation, $300M+ in new product launches, multi-asset capabilities, and a threefold increase in throughput. He led a team of 60+ spanning global operations, IT, portfolio risk, and change management, and designed a first-of-its-kind OMS/EMS environment consolidating institutional and retail execution functions.
The ideal investment management firm would be 10-20 people in a room making and executing investment decisions, and a couple folks outside the door answering the phones.
So said my former boss and mentor, Bill Gross, at some point during PIMCO’s early years; or so the lore goes at least.
Tales and quotes that may or may not be true have a habit of attaching
themselves to legends, and I for one cannot confirm the above as factual and
properly attributed (although I do have to admit it sounds exactly like
something he’d say). However, what I can confirm is this: the ability for a
small and motivated group of individuals to create exactly such an entity has
never been more realizable than it is today.
The Recipe
Take one-part standard technology platform outsourcing, mix with two-parts data licenses, shake with a purposeful vendor management oversight initiative, pour into a proper control environment and serve with distribution agreements, and the ideal vision expressed above can almost be realized. Not quite, but almost … let’s call it 90% in general. If, however, your focus is on launching an ETF business, you can move the needle closer to 99%. TAMPs, white-label solutions and the expansion in turn-key services being offered as recent regulatory changes hit the production line have allowed almost any ambitious investor the ability to package and launch their ideas in a way and within a timeframe that the industry has simply never seen before.
Whether or not this “fully outsourced” model makes sense for any particular firm is not the point of this note; neither is the question of whether or not a fully in-sourced version makes sense. Rather, the focus of this note is the reality that most investment management firms are currently living some version of both realities, while simultaneously working to determine what reality will suit them best over the next 3-5 years. In other words, you’re not alone. This isn’t about either/or, and it’s not about following the herd; it’s about the need for each individual firm to optimize a number of key strategic options across your core operating environment, in a controlled manner, and in a way that is accretive to your investment processes and ensures delivery of the high-quality service that you and your firm deliver to your clients.
At Cutter, we have the unbelievable opportunity to engage with leaders of some of the world’s premier investment firms and discuss these matters on a daily basis. Whether large, global and multi-asset, or smaller, regional and more focused, every investment manager we speak to is currently grappling with one version or another of this dilemma; as we help these firms navigate and solve these challenges, we see some consistent themes worth noting:
- You can outsource the activity, but not the accountability
- No amount of AI or technology overlay can truly compensate for a lack of proper data governance
- A small amount of underlying structure and governance goes a very long way
- Do The Work: Define, Assign, Standardize, Monitor, Report, Learn, Adjust
- Controls & Oversight = Everything
While Mr. Gross’ version of the ideal firm is now somewhat possible,
and as some firms actively attempt to create it, we believe the majority of
investment managers will continue to deal with a hybrid reality and will
increasingly look to reorient how they optimize this structure to align with
their strategic priorities. Furthermore, we believe that this optimization
approach and the analysis that drives it, rather than a focus on insourcing vs.
outsourcing specifically, is what ultimately leads to superior outcomes and
drives growth.
How Can We Help?
Cutter Associates serves the operational and technology needs of the global asset and wealth management industry. We have helped some of the largest investment management firms around the world achieve business value from every process, realize strategic opportunities, keep pace with the competition, and stay ahead of the technology curve.
Whatever your challenge, we can work with you to have a lasting impact ─ enabling your growth strategy for years to come.
Experience our full spectrum of solutions ─ insights, strategy, and execution. Contact us at [email protected]
to learn more.