10 financial software terms every family office should know

A glossary of terms used by family office software providers

The financial industry is renowned for abbreviations, acronyms and jargon. This can make it a minefield for a layman, those of us who do not understand the intricacies of financial speak. Family offices, sitting within the financial industry, can have even more complicated terms and references, so unique sometimes that one family office might not understand another.

Imagine then the complicated language of a family office married to the complicated language used in the technology industry. When looking for a family office software provider it can be hard to cut through the industry terms to get to the point. Elysys have pulled together these top 10 common terms and phrases used by family office technology providers to help you decipher their proposals.

1. Integrated platform

An all-in-one family office system that offers comprehensive functionality across multiple business disciplines, like accounting, investment data aggregation and financial reporting, that utilizes an underlying data warehouse. 

2. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

This is a system that manages all elements of your business. It is fully integrated and will connect all the important functions of a family office. Often done in real-time an ERP for a family office connects financial accounting, banking and security, generally replacing separate legacy systems and becoming the one system that does it all, giving the benefit of free flow of communication between business areas, a single source of information, and accurate, real-time data reporting.

3. Application Programming Interface (API)

Is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. For example, family offices can connect their family office software to a bank's computer programme to get market prices, exchange rates and indexes on demand. APIs are secure and allow for the automation of time-consuming tasks. Elysys Bank Gateway simplifies your channels with external providers.

4. Best-of-breed technology

This is technology created by a specialised provider that does not create a ‘one size fits all’ technology that solves a broad range of challenges. Instead, best-of-breed technology providers are very niche, they cater for a very specific market and focus on providing the best solution to very specific challenges. When companies are looking at replacing their software infrastructure, it is ideal to buy separate best-of-breed technology and connect it together.

5. Client Portal

A client portal is a secure reporting tool. Designed to allow access for end clients (families) to see their total net worth and overall financial position.

6. Data Feed

A data feed is a way for users to receive updated data from data sources. A family office can use data feeds to automatically retrieve data files on a recurring basis from banks, custodians, brokerage firms and other outside vendors.

7. Data aggregation

This is a way of summarising data from various sources to facilitate analytics and identify trends. To aggregate data, you need to understand what you have available and what you are trying to find out from that data first. With this information in mind you can use data aggregation software to create digestible results that help inform your objectives.

8. Data analytics

After you have taken all the various sources of data and brought them together, you can use bespoke software to run that data to give you meaningful reports. Put simply, it is how you make sense of all that data you hold in your family office system. Elysys analytics not only does all of this, but presents the data in easy and quick-to-digest visualisations.

9. Digital transformation

Digital transformation is when a company integrates technology into all or most of its company’s functions, fundamentally changing how they operate. Digital transformation isn’t just about updating business processes, it’s also about a change in mindset, introducing a new culture that reimagines the way you interact with your customer and meet their needs. Read more in our blog: Why digital transformation is now a race, rather than a long-term aspiration for family offices.

10. Transport Layer Security (TLS)

TLS is the encryption methodology used to encrypt the digital connection between your financial software and third parties such as banks and vendors. TLS is an improved version of SSL, which you may have heard of before, it is secure because it offers authentication, privacy and data integrity to your communicating devices.

Now you have the vocabulary, give us a call to arrange a no-commitment demo and transform your family office with a dedicated family office software solution.