Citisoft Completes Multi-Year Transformation Initiative for Principal Global Investors

Global Asset Manager Partners with Citisoft to Redesign and Modernize Investment Operations

BOSTON; May 14, 2019 — Citisoft, a leading global investment management consulting firm, has completed a multi-year initiative in partnership with Principal Global Investors to transform their global investment operations and technology capabilities. Principal Global Investors leads global asset management at Principal® managing $442.4 billion on behalf of over 800 institutional clients worldwide (as of March 31, 2019).

Principal Global Investors recognized the need to re-envision its middle office as a strategic asset that would both provide investment teams with timely data and add critical scale for its growing business. The firm’s investment operations and technology leadership partnered with Citisoft to ensure this future vision supported both the near- and long-term needs of the business. At an early stage, the joint team created the central vision for the operation’s future: the Data-Centric Operating Model.

With this vision established, Citisoft led a comprehensive evaluation of Principal Global Investors’ global investment accounting and data requirements and offered perspective on industry software and service providers that could support Principal Global Investors’ future data-enabled business. Citisoft worked closely with Principal Global Investors during the decision-making process to round out the fundamental operational and technological components that would serve as the foundation for its future. These components included re-designing the operation around data domains (as opposed to functional tasks), establishing a shared data platform that would act as the data backbone for years to come, and ensuring Principal used this “once in a generation” opportunity to establish a pragmatic data governance program.

“Citisoft was a key partner starting in the assessment stage of this program,” said Cinda Whitten, Operations Managing Director for Principal Global Investors. “At the heart, this was a large change program where replacing legacy technology was at the core of it. They brought industry expertise, large program discipline, and were supportive in working through any challenges we faced at all stages of the program.”

Citisoft continued to work with Principal Global Investors to create and deliver against a multi-year roadmap of change projects spanning operations, process, and technology. A critical component of the effort was creating a program that leveraged agile principles. The team worked together to create a structure which gave Principal Global Investors confidence in overall delivery schedules while allowing cross-functional scrum teams to deliver smaller, more frequent production changes to manage the overall risk associated with an initiative of this size and importance. Citisoft was also responsible for introducing readiness and change management disciplines to help ensure Principal Global Investors was thoroughly prepared for the transformation.

Ben Keeler, Managing Director for Citisoft, commented: “Principal is a partner, not just a client. Whether we were supporting their advisory or delivery needs, Principal Global Investors consistently demonstrated a willingness to listen and adopt new ways of working. Our joint teams recognized that in order to deliver lasting change, we all needed to think and act differently. In the end, both parties were willing to put in the hard work necessary to achieve our goals. We’re very proud to have partnered with Principal Global Investors on this effort.”

About Citisoft
Citisoft partners with the world's leading asset management firms and service providers to create impactful and effective solutions to today's complex business problems. Our sole focus is assessing, designing, and delivering results-oriented operations and technology change across the entire investment management process. With a team of dedicated consultants in North America and EMEA, we’re committed to working with asset managers and asset servicers globally on projects of every scope. From guiding complete business transformation programs to on-the-ground delivery, our team is equipped to fulfill any strategic or tactical need. www.citisoft.com

About Principal Global Investors^®
Principal Global Investors^® leads global asset management at Principal^®. As a multi-boutique firm, we bring a focused perspective and offer expertise across a host of asset classes. At our core, we are driven by our purpose to help investors and businesses achieve their financial goals. Our global investment professionals deliver investment solutions for public and private pension funds, foundations and endowments, central banks, insurance companies, sub-advisory arrangements, sovereign wealth funds and individual portfolios.

Principal Global Investors manages approximately $442.4 billion in assets on behalf of over 800 institutional clients located in over 80 countries as well as retirement plans and individual clients, reflecting our worldwide market reach and experience and our commitment to high-quality research and service (as of March 31, 2019). www.principalglobal.com