BACKGROUND
Covenant Review was launched in 2006 as the first research firm that focused solely on bond and loan covenants that provides valuable information to sophisticated investment firms on their rights as bondholders. They offer independent research on corporate bond terms for hedge funds, mutual funds, and other investors.
The need for a custom solution
After working many years as an investment banker, the client identified a niche business opportunity that would help high profile investment companies easily decide which bonds would yield the most favorable market position to its clients. As bonds are traditionally accompanied by a 300-page document (Prospectus), lawyers charge a hefty sum to review it and advise clients on their rights, which in turn helps the clients make a decision about investing in it.
Covenant Review had their in-house lawyers (with investment banking background) and investment analysts review and write a 4-6 page legal brief as a bond would hit the market. Investment Management companies could pay for a subscription service with Covenant Review, gain access to these consolidated and easy-to-digest reports and receive prompt legal advice at a fraction of the cost a lawyer would charge.
Requirements
Covenant Review approached the team at Asahi Tech to examine whether a custom web portal could be built with all the features that met the founder’s vision. After several discovery meetings, our engineering team was able to translate the client’s needs into the following technological requirements:
SEARCH CAPABILITIES
USER PERMISSIONS
MARKETING AUTOMATION
REQUIREMENTS
GENERATION
AND MAKE IT READILY AVAILABLE
SOLUTION
Our engineering team at Asahi Tech was able to translate the client’s requirements into a blueprint for a scalable custom web portal with well indexed searchable databases and printer-friendly report layouts. We recognized that the technology solution had to have a strong foundation to meet all the initial client requirements and remain scalable as the business evolved. Using .Net 4.0 framework, our team built and deployed the client’s custom web application.
To meet the client’s needs, our team did the following:
- ✓Designed a Microsoft SQL Server database with optimal indexing so that the client could run advanced searches on their data and quickly get results
- ✓Mapped out 25 finely defined features/permission types and assigned password-protected accounts to employees. Super admin was the only one with ability to granularly define their access based on role and seniority.
- ✓Using a third party tool, we gave Covenant Review the capability to send e-mail newsletters from the app to different kinds of subscribers/clients when a new report is released.
- ✓Integrated the application with a sophisticated ‘XML to PDF’ tool that converts data points into high-end presentable PDF, saving the client’s employees hours of mundane, manual work generating well structured PDFs worthy of being read by wall street investors.
- ✓Implemented a framework for a complex database of numerical and textual elements for corporate bonds, so that app users could grasp bond information quickly and with ease.
RESULTS
The application helped transform the founder’s vision into reality. A cloud based solution for a) paralegals and investment analysts to login and share legal research, b) investment advisors on wall street to subscribe and get timely advice and information before making investment decisions and c) account managers to understand how subscribers use the application, and d) stakeholders to have a macro view of all users in order to fine tune the business.
BENEFITS
- ✓The application provides a comprehensive workflow management system for the client’s in house financial analyst/legal team to input data on the various attributes of bonds.
- ✓Paralegals have permission to access research to update the bond pricing, maturity date, underwriter and other information
- ✓Investment analysts (qualified lawyers) have permission to access research to update bondholder rights and terms
- ✓Administrators have access to admin site functions (adding new users, setting up subscriptions, giving users access, etc.)
- ✓Professional looking research reports can be generated and e-mailed in seconds, and with minimal effort
- ✓The application enables the client to create Subscription types on the fly by using complex a combination of parameters such as Geography (for example, Latin America, North America and Europe), Bond Type (High Grade, High Yield) and Term (Temporary, Permanent).
