Edward Jones Investments, one of the top 10 brokerage companies by portfolio size in the US, has deployed the Integrity data quality management software solution from Ascential Software to help it deliver personalised client data to its 8 500 investment representatives as they service nearly 6 million investors worldwide.
Edward Jones uses Integrity to cleanse investor information for individual accounts as that data is consolidated into a worldwide customer information data warehouse. The company has created an advanced platform from which home office associates and investment representatives design and deliver profitable investment strategies tailored to individual investors` needs.
"While our core IT systems are organised around accounts and transactions, our investment representatives provide investment services to individual people, families and small business owners," says Scott Vicars, IT manager responsible for decision support at Edward Jones. "Improving the quality of our customer data, resolving duplicate customer names and reconciling multiple customer account records into a single, secure view of each client is critical to delivering the personalised service we are known for throughout the industry.
"With Integrity, we now provide our 8 500 investment representatives nationwide with complete, accurate information regarding each of their clients, including information on current net worth and portfolio, so they can better service their clients and offer investment services and advice that reflect the financial situation and goals of each person."
In Edward Jones` core mainframe-based account management systems, more than one investor is often associated with a single investment account - such as in joint, guardianship or business retirement accounts. Similarly, a single investor typically holds several accounts. These situations have prevented the company`s investment representatives and marketing staff from accessing a single view of any one investor`s status across all accounts and investments. The company overcame that challenge by building a customer data warehouse and putting in place an Ascential-based data quality solution.
Edward Jones`s data quality process identifies unique investors, delineates investors associated with each account, associates multiple accounts with each investor or household group, and writes consolidated client data into its data warehouse for use by field and headquarters staff - all over a secure password-protected and encrypted private network.
"Personal attention and tailored individual financial advice are why customers choose Edward Jones over other full-service brokerage firms," says Ken King, general principal of marketing research at Edward Jones.
"Establishing deeper relationship with existing customers is one of the best ways to meet the financial needs of those customers. Ascential is helping us make this happen by increasing our ability to uncover and meet our customers` financial services needs with advice and services that build our clients` wealth and our corporate success simultaneously."
Ascential`s Integrity is an enterprise data quality management solution that helps companies improve and maintain the accuracy of corporate data to achieve their strategic goals through enterprise applications, including customer relationship management, supply chain management, enterprise resource planning and data warehouses.
Share