Consulting, software and managed services for private credit
Private credit has outgrown the spreadsheet.
Dacumen helps private credit managers modernize their operations as their businesses grow. We combine specialist advice, purpose-built software and managed services to improve data quality, strengthen controls and manage day-to-day investment operations.
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Incoming data
Data from three sources is loaded before the day starts
- Trustee report
- 06:12
- Agent notices
- 06:20
- Portfolio system
- 06:25
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Reconciliation
Every position is compared across the three sources
- Positions compared
- 1,248
- Matched
- 1,247
- Breaks
- 1
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Exception
An analyst investigates and explains the break
- Portfolio par
- 5,000,000.00
- Trustee par
- 4,750,000.00
- Difference
- 250,000.00
A paydown notice reached the trustee after its cutoff. The notice is attached as evidence.
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Approved output
The position report is reviewed and released
A second person reviews the explanation and approves the report, which discloses the open break.
ResolutionAt 06:30 the next day, the trustee’s record is updated and the positions agree. The break is closed and its history is retained for audit.Closed
- Focus
- Bank loans and private credit, exclusively
- Founded
- 2014, with more than a decade in credit operations
- Clients
- Include asset managers with 10bn to more than 90bn in assets under management
Placeholder
Client names or logos, shown only with each client’s written approval.
How we work with clients
Advise. Build. Run.
Operational change often stalls between the recommendation and the system, or between the system and the team that has to use it. Our team supports clients through planning, implementation and ongoing operations, and a client can engage us for any one of the three.
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Operations advisory and transformation
Advise
We review how your operations are performed today, then design the operating model, systems and data architecture your business needs as it grows.
- Produces
- A target operating model and an implementation plan
- Clients start here with
- A defined problem: a migration, a reporting requirement or a process that no longer scales
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Data and technology implementation
Build
We implement the technology, using our own products where they suit the requirement and working with the client’s existing systems where they do not.
- Produces
- Systems that are configured, integrated and reconciled to source data
- Clients start here with
- A specific function: reconciliation, trade settlement, leverage facilities or data
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Managed investment operations
Run
We manage daily investment operations to agreed service levels. The client continues to make every decision.
- Produces
- Daily operations, with a complete record of what was done and approved
- Clients start here with
- A capacity constraint: recurring work that the in-house team can no longer absorb
Our experience managing daily operations informs the advice we give and the software we develop.
Client story
Consolidating 26 daily custodian cash files into one report.
6 hoursof daily manual processing eliminated across three teams
Problem
A manager with three BDCs received 26 cash files from its custodians each day, and three teams each processed them by hand.
Dacumen’s contribution
We automated the collection and consolidation of the files and monitored the arrival of each one.
Reported result
Every team now receives all portfolio cash transactions in one daily file.
The client also reported better visibility of cash across its three BDCs and more reliable data for daily reporting.
Moving off the spreadsheet
How daily credit operations change with Dacumen.
Many credit managers built their operations one transaction at a time, with much of the supporting process in Excel. The underlying tasks stay the same. What changes is how often they are performed, where the data is held and how each step is recorded.
| Function | Common practice | With Dacumen |
|---|---|---|
| Reconciliation | Often performed at month end, in workbooks | Performed daily, with each break assigned and aged |
| Trade settlement | Often managed through email and a tracking sheet | Tracked in one queue from ClearPar to settlement, with approvals recorded |
| Leverage facilities | Borrowing base often rebuilt manually before each draw | Borrowing base tested against every facility before capital is committed |
| Reporting | Often assembled from new data extracts for each deadline | Produced on schedule from reconciled data |
| Process knowledge | Often held by a small number of individuals | Documented and maintained by a team |
Technology
Software built by the team that uses it every day.
We develop four products, each for a specific function in credit operations. Clients either use them with their own teams or have our operations staff use them on their behalf.
Record every approval against the trade
TradePath sends sign-off requests to the internal teams automatically and stores each response with the trade. An auditor can see who approved each trade without searching through email.
Manage settlement documents in one place
Settlement documents and wire memos are sent to custodians and trustees directly from the queue, so delivery does not depend on one person’s mailbox.
Identify outstanding approvals and documents before they delay settlement
The queue shows what each trade is waiting for and who is responsible, days before the settlement date is at risk.
The settlement queue in TradePath, which manages loan trade settlement alongside ClearPar.
Data and automation
Orion
Collects and standardizes credit data from any source, and automates the routine tasks that depend on that data.
OrionReconciliation
SmartRec
Reconciles positions, cash and activity daily, and tracks each break to resolution.
SmartRecTrade settlement
TradePath
Manages approvals, settlement documents and wire memos alongside ClearPar.
TradePathLeverage facilities
Levfolio
Models borrowing bases across facilities so financing decisions can be tested before capital is committed.
LevfolioIn clients’ words
What clients say about working with us.
“The outsourcing of middle office responsibilities has allowed us to scale while keeping headcount low. … The loan settlement and asset servicing functions have been accurate and timely preventing costly delays or errors.”
“By engaging Dacumen we have optimized our operations and are able to better meet the transparency demands of our investors and counterparties.”
“With minimal direction, Dacumen managed to make sense of our unstructured data, modeled the reports, and delivered reconciled outputs. Their unique expertise enabled us to deliver on this challenge.”
Delivery approach
How we govern every engagement.
These practices apply to advisory projects, implementations and managed services alike. Why Dacumen
- A named engagement lead
- One senior practitioner leads the engagement from scoping through to steady-state operation.
- Agreed service levels
- We agree in writing what we will deliver, and how it will be measured, before the engagement begins.
- Documented process
- We document each process step by step before we take responsibility for it or return it to the client.
- Parallel runs
- New processes and systems run alongside the existing ones until their outputs agree.
- Defined escalation
- Matters that require a client decision are escalated through a route agreed at the outset, with our analysis already complete.
- Recorded approvals
- Approvals, exceptions and resolutions are recorded as they occur, so the audit trail exists before anyone asks for it.
- Regular service review
- We review performance against service levels, open issues and planned changes with the client on an agreed schedule.
Who we serve
We work only with credit asset managers.
BDCs
For managers with several leverage facilities, fixed reporting deadlines and a portfolio that is growing faster than the operations team.
BDCsCLO managers
For managers handling high settlement volumes, trustee reconciliation and a separate reporting cycle for each transaction.
CLO managersPrivate credit funds
For funds that hold bilateral loans with bespoke terms and keep fund data across documents, workbooks and legacy systems.
Private credit funds1940 Act funds
For registered credit funds that need frequent, accurate figures and a control record they can demonstrate.
1940 Act fundsInsights
Our perspective on credit operations.
Where spreadsheets break in private credit operations
Five processes that commonly outgrow Excel as a credit portfolio grows.
Build, buy or outsource: a practical test
Three questions that help a credit manager decide whether to build a capability in-house, buy software for it or outsource it.
The case for daily reconciliation of credit portfolios
Why reconciling every day takes less total effort than reconciling once a month.
Discuss your priorities.
Tell us which operational issue concerns you most. A senior member of our team with direct experience in credit operations will reply.