Chicago-Based Hedge Fund Company — Digital Transformation Through Automated and Embedded Data Analytics

Client Overview

A Chicago-based hedge fund company specializing in alternative asset management, fund operations, and insurance-linked investment products sought to modernize its data analytics landscape. With a growing portfolio and increasing data complexity, the firm needed a unified and intelligent analytics platform to empower leadership with real-time insights and data-driven decision-making.

Problem: Manual Data Wrangling and Static Reporting

The company’s reporting and analytics workflow relied heavily on manual data wrangling, consuming valuable time and introducing operational inefficiencies.

Data originated from multiple siloed systems:
– Dynamo CRM — client relationship data
– Fund transactions and AUM data — portfolio and performance metrics
– Insurance carrier updates — policy performance and risk details
– Bank feeds — financial reconciliation and liquidity data

Challenges Faced:
– Manual report generation from disparate sources
– High data latency leading to outdated insights
– Lack of consolidated data visibility
– No drill-down or self-service analytics capability for end users

Solution: Cloud-Native, Automated, and Secure Data Analytics Platform

Business Compass LLC partnered with the hedge fund company to deliver a comprehensive digital transformation solution built on AWS Cloud. The engagement focused on automating data ingestion, establishing a scalable data warehouse, and enabling secure, embedded analytics for real-time insights.

1. Data Automation and Integration
– Implemented AWS Transfer Family for secure and automated data ingestion from banks, insurance carriers, and fund administrators.
– Orchestrated end-to-end ETL pipelines using AWS Lambda and AWS Step Functions, eliminating manual intervention.
– Unified multiple source systems into a single Amazon RDS (MySQL) data warehouse.

2. Intelligent Data Processing
– Leveraged Amazon Textract to extract structured data from fund statements and carrier PDFs.
– Used Amazon Comprehend to process and interpret unstructured CRM notes.
– Enabled ad-hoc analytical querying through Amazon Athena.

3. Embedded Dashboards and Federated Access
– Designed and deployed Amazon QuickSight embedded dashboards integrated into the firm’s internal portal.
– Provided drill-down, role-based reporting.
– Integrated Amazon Cognito with Okta for federated single sign-on (SSO).

4. Automation and Governance
– Configured scheduled data refreshes and event-driven analytics updates.
– Established fine-grained data access controls using AWS IAM and Cognito user pools.

Outcome: Real-Time Insights and Actionable Analytics

The digital transformation empowered the hedge fund company with an end-to-end automated analytics ecosystem, driving operational efficiency and faster strategic decisions.

Before vs After:
– Manual Excel-based data wrangling → Automated data pipelines
– Fragmented, static reports → Interactive, embedded dashboards
– Siloed systems → Unified MySQL data warehouse
– Manual logins → Secure SSO via Cognito–Okta federation
– Delayed decisions → Real-time analytics via portal

Key Results:
– 90% reduction in manual report preparation time
– 360° data visibility
– Seamless analytics access via SSO
– Near real-time insights
– Improved decision agility

AWS Services Utilized

– AWS Transfer Family
– AWS Lambda
– AWS Step Functions
– Amazon RDS (MySQL)
– Amazon Athena
– Amazon Textract
– Amazon Comprehend
– Amazon QuickSight
– Amazon Cognito + Okta Federation

Conclusion

With the help of Business Compass LLC, the Chicago-based hedge fund company successfully transformed its analytics operations — evolving from manual, fragmented reporting into an automated, intelligent, and embedded analytics platform powered by AWS.

The solution unified data from multiple sources, streamlined data operations, and delivered secure, real-time insights through QuickSight dashboards accessible via a federated internal portal.

This transformation positioned the firm to make faster, data-driven decisions — optimizing investment performance, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing transparency across the organization.