UK pension scheme relies on Linedata Icon for fund accounting

Learn how Linedata's global fund accounting platform helps UK pension fund manage its back-office operations.

Linedata's global fund accounting platform helps pension fund streamline operations while addressing its accounting and reporting requirements

Our client uses Linedata Icon fund accounting as its investment and accounting book of records (IBOR/ABOR). Icon provides a full database record of its holdings in all currencies, with double-entry bookkeeping.

“Icon is our primary record of the investment assets we own, how we have bought and sold them throughout the year and the incomes they have generated,” explains our client’s Investments Manager. “It enables us to generate the data that goes into our annual report and book of accounts. We need to produce accounts to quite eye-watering details, and we’ve generated various bespoke reports that allow us to do that. It’s very reassuring to have a system we can trust to always provide the accurate, detailed information we need.”

Every month the fund reconciles balances in Icon with data from its custodians, fund managers, and bank accounts, and uses the results to calculate its investment returns. Icon also enables the fund to address regulatory reporting requirements, media requests, information for members of the scheme and other ad hoc information requests.

Move to software hosting solution will help Linedata's client curb costs and boost ROI

Linedata’s client is a large UK-based defined benefit pension scheme with over £2 Billion in AUM. The firm has used Linedata Icon as its fund accounting and investor and regulatory reporting solution since 2008. In 2020, the fund signed a 3-year agreement to have Linedata host Icon for them. The move aligns with the organization’s IT strategy to transition from managing hardware and applications in-house to using cloud and hosting solution providers.

Pension fund accounting software that is robust, flexible, and easy to use

An industry-leading platform with an excellent track record of efficient delivery and reliability, Icon is trusted by dozens of Asset Managers, Asset Owners, and Third-Party Administrators, and is particularly well-suited to UK operations. The largest Icon user manages over £1 Trillion in assets on the platform – over 400 times the AUM of this client. Yet the needs of both clients – and others in between – are well-served thanks to Icon’s robustness, flexibility, and customization options.

“I’d recommend Icon because it’s a great system,” the Investments Manager says. “Our team enjoys using it because it’s capable of doing many things, it’s capable of being customized to suit you, and it’s also quite simple to use.” From a usability point of view, he particularly values how Icon lets users customize their desktops to save time, effort, and keystrokes. “Time is precious, and Icon helps each member of the team use their time more effectively.”

As the fund’s investment strategy has evolved to include more exotic instruments such as derivate exposure bonds, futures, and swaps, Icon has evolved with it. “We’ve expanded our use of Icon to accommodate our increasingly diverse portfolio,” the Investments Manager says. “That’s been really great.”

A hosted solution that supports efficient operations and the fund's IT strategy

Linedata has provided hosting and ASP services to Icon users for over a decade. In 2020, our client decided to move from on-premises deployment to a hosted model in line with its strategy to outsource non-core IT activities. With Application Hosting, Linedata looks after everything: hardware, software, upgrades, disaster recovery, and more. Our client can focus on running its business, while Linedata experts help it maximize its ROI on Icon. In these cost-conscious times, the fund enjoys a predictable cost structure while reducing its total cost of ownership (TCO).

“Our fund exists to secure the retirement of many thousands of hardworking individuals,” the Investments Manager says. “The savings we generate through efficiencies and other forms of cost management are critical to achieving our overall mission.”

Plus, our client adds, since the Linedata Support Team has direct access to the Icon server, they can address issues even faster, further enhancing the strong relationship built up over the past decade.