Global Asset Manager Strengthens Best Execution and Control Around OMS Platform

Overview

A global asset manager with $800M AUM was facing regulatory scrutiny over best execution practices and operational risk around their Order Management System. Their OMS had grown organically through acquisitions, creating fragmented workflows and execution quality gaps.

This engagement reflects our core model: retained technical governance that operates alongside existing engineering teams, providing architectural authority without replacing headcount.

The Challenge

The asset manager’s investment and compliance teams had conflicting views on execution quality. Post-trade TCA consistently showed 12-18bps slippage against benchmarks — but the root cause was unclear. The OMS lacked deterministic audit trails, making regulatory reporting laborious and error-prone. The Smart Order Router (SOR) logic was undocumented and had not been reviewed in three years.

Our Approach

• Execution Quality Audit: microstructure forensics on 6 months of trade data
• OMS architecture review: identified 4 structural latency sources in order workflow
• SOR logic review and redesign for venue selection and order routing
• Slippage attribution framework to classify and quantify each source of execution drag
• Compliance-ready audit trail architecture with deterministic replay capability
• Ongoing Execution Quality monitoring cadence with monthly Decision Directives

Outcomes