For many in the asset management industry, MARS is known as an industry-specific CRM with Sales and Asset reporting capabilities. That was a good basic description when MARS was first introduced back in 1999 as an industry-specific solution for Marketing And Reporting Sales. In 1999 we began servicing our first MARS client and not only is that client still with us today, we are also currently supporting many leading asset management firms representing a total of over $3 trillion in AUM.
How has MARS evolved?
Today, MARS is used by our clients as a platform – a platform for data aggregation, data distribution, and advanced data visualization capabilities.
At its core, MARS is a transactional database designed to process an unlimited amount of sales and asset data from the Retail and Institutional sales channels – and all product types including Mutual Funds, ETFs, Managed Accounts, and Insurance products. Tightly integrated with MARS is our Data Stewardship service which includes a proprietary Registered Rep CRD database which proactively ensures our clients have the most up to date and accurate sales and asset data from all sources. Enabling our clients to effectively leverage all of their data is a key value proposition of MARS.
Today, our clients use the actionable intelligence within MARS in a variety of ways including and in conjunction with:
- Our real time, bi-directional, Salesforce.com integration package which includes the Firm, Branch/Office, Rep and Account level hierarchies;
- IntelliMARS, our native iOS mobile apps on the iPad and iPhone
- Integrations with Data Warehouses, Data Hubs, and Data Lakes (Data Oceans, planets or galaxies may be next)
Also, since many of our clients use MARS as their golden copy, or system of record, we have also created multiple integrations with 3rd party Market Share, RIA data providers, and various Marketing integrations creating an all-in-one 360 degree sales and marketing platform for our clients’ businesses.
The evolution of the MARS Platform and our services is an ongoing process of continuous improvement guided by a close partnership between our clients and dedicated staff. A direct result of this collaboration is the upcoming release of MARS Version 9 which will include:
- Advance Visual Analytics;
- Segmentation Engine;
- Institutional Module;
- Enhanced Team Reporting; and
- New standardized and automated DCIO/Retirement business reporting capabilities.
So what is MARS today? MARS is the flexible platform asset management firms utilize to leverage timely and accurate customer and transactional data to succeed in today’s marketplace.
