Migration Planning

Background

Our client, a private bank and asset management firm, embarked on a strategic transformation initiative to migrate its investment management operations to the UK.

Historically based in Europe, these operations supported a range of financial products and services.

The objective of the project was to migrate seven functional teams — along with their associated processes, controls, and supporting systems — into the UK.

This initiative aimed to enhance operational efficiency, align with strategic geographical priorities, and support long-term growth objectives.

Approach

The migration approach was developed with key stakeholders from both the UK and Swiss operations. A collaborative framework was established to ensure all perspectives and operational nuances were accounted for. This involved:

• Stakeholder engagement: Regular workshops and planning sessions with cross-jurisdictional team leaders.
• Option identification: Evaluation of various migration models, considering team dependencies, process complexity, and business continuity.
• Migration strategy development: Assessment of skill sets, recruitment timelines, training requirements, and end-to-end process interaction to determine optimal sequencing and groupings for migration.

A standardised migration framework was then developed and applied to each team, with flexibility to tailor specifics based on individual team characteristics.

Analysis

Key analysis that informed the migration planning included:

• Team dependency mapping: Process and control documents were reviewed and where there were gaps, documented, to understand how each team interacted with others and to identify processes which would require migration together.
• Recruitment and skills gap analysis: Identified specialised roles that were critical to the operations and mapped out the lead time required for sourcing and onboarding suitable talent in the UK.
• Training and knowledge transfer planning: Designed structured training programs to facilitate comprehensive knowledge transfer from the Swiss teams to the newly formed UK teams. This included work shadowing, documentation reviews, and supported dual run periods.
• Risk assessment and mitigation planning: Risks related to recruitment delays, knowledge loss, and transitional operational gaps were documented. Contingency plans and mitigation strategies were developed accordingly.
• Timeline and delivery planning: Developed a detailed migration schedule, sequencing team migrations in a way that minimised operational disruption and aligned with the broader target operating model program.

Conclusions

PryceWilliams delivered the following benefits to our client:

• Doubled the annual cost-savings to £3m pa.
• Enhanced control of the migrated processes.
• Reduced project delivery timelines by 3 months.

The migration project highlighted the importance of robust planning and cross-functional collaboration in executing complex operational transitions. Key conclusions include:

• Tailored standardisation: While a standardised approach provided structure, the flexibility to tailor plans per team ensured that individual requirements and constraints were adequately addressed.
• Strategic sequencing: Migrating interdependent teams together minimised cross-border operational inefficiencies and improved process integrity.
• Critical path dependencies: Timely recruitment and knowledge transfer were identified as key success factors. Delays in these areas posed the greatest risk to timeline adherence.
• Stakeholder engagement: Continuous engagement with stakeholders from both jurisdictions built trust, enabled proactive issue resolution, and ensured alignment with business objectives.
• Post-migration support: The inclusion of a warranty period allowed for close support and fine-tuning, which proved essential for embedding the new operational model successfully.

Overall, the project achieved its primary goal of successfully relocating the investment management operations function to the UK with minimal disruption, providing the client with a scalable, strategically located operations centre ready to support future growth.

Recommendations

Based on the successful execution and lessons learned from this migration project, we recommend the PW Project Planning check to support any future migrations or similar transformation initiatives that your organisation may wish to undertake. For example, the PW Project Planning check covers the following:

• Robust risk management: Projects such as these carry a high inherent risk to the successful completion. Thorough and continuous risk identification and management which is well documented and communicated is key to successful delivery.
• Enhance cross-location knowledge transfer: Formalise knowledge transfer with structured documentation, mentorship pairings, and shadowing programs. Consider recording training sessions for future reference and onboarding.
• Maintain flexibility in standardised planning: Use a core migration framework as a template but retain the flexibility to adapt elements such as training length, recruitment needs, and support models based on team-specific requirements.

By following these recommendations, organisations can increase the likelihood of delivering successful, risk-mitigated migrations that support broader strategic objectives and operational excellence.

Next Steps

PryceWilliams provides specialist consulting and project delivery services for investment management firms with strategic change, regulatory compliance and technology transformation needs. Our focus is supporting the project sponsor to ensure project implementation is delivered on time and within budget. Should you need support, contact us to make progress happen.