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Executive Summary

A mid-market SEC-registered investment adviser modernized its data platform to deliver near real-time portfolio visibility and governed reporting. Using Fivetran for automated ingestion, dbt for modular transformations and semantic modeling, Snowflake for elastic warehousing, and Power BI for governed self-serve analytics, the firm consolidated APX, custodian, CRM, and finance data into trusted marts. The implementation cut quarterly reporting cycle time by half, reduced defects by over 90%, and improved compliance readiness, while lowering pipeline maintenance and improving adoption.

Business Challenges

  • Fragmented data across Advent APX, custodian files, Salesforce, and finance systems caused reconciliation breaks and slow cycles.
  • Manual, CSV-driven reporting required multiple analysts for weeks each quarter; compliance extracts took 5–7 business days.
  • Limited transparency into data lineage, inconsistent KPIs, and low analyst trust in numbers.
  • Need for near real-time positions/trades and governed access with book-of-business isolation.

Objectives

  • Centralize and standardize data with minimal operational overhead.
  • Deliver near real-time positions, trades, and cash with defined SLAs.
  • Establish conformed dimensions, governed marts, and consistent KPIs for investment, operations, and compliance teams.
  • Enforce robust security (RLS, masking), SSO, and full auditability.

Solution Overview

We implemented a Snowflake-centered analytics platform with managed ingestion and modular modeling for reliable pipelines and governed, performant BI.

Data ingestion with Fivetran

  • Prebuilt connectors load Salesforce and QuickBooks into Snowflake RAW schemas on automated, incremental schedules (typically every 15 minutes).
  • Custodian and APX exports land via staged file ingestion (S3/SFTP) with Snowpipe Auto-Ingest for hourly updates and backfills.
  • Connector health, sync logs, and alerts provide operational visibility; schema drift handled automatically.

Transformations and modeling with dbt

  • A layered dbt project (stg_ → dim_/fct_ → mart_) conforms data, applies quality checks, and assembles a single source of truth for portfolio, performance, revenue, and compliance.
  • Patterns include incremental models for trades/positions, SCD Type 2 for client-rep mappings, and conformed dimensions (dim_client, dim_account, dim_security).
  • Data quality via dbt tests (unique, not_null, relationships, accepted_values) and schema contracts; exposures document lineage to Power BI assets.

Analytics and access with Power BI

  • Power BI connects to Snowflake marts (DirectQuery for near real-time, Import where appropriate) to deliver Portfolio Health, Trade Exceptions, Compliance Monitoring, and Revenue Attribution.
  • Certified datasets and governed app workspaces ensure consistent metrics and controlled distribution; row-level security is enforced in Snowflake.
  • Deployment pipelines (Dev/Test/Prod) and endorsements streamline releases and adoption.

Architecture

Financial-data-warehouse-implementation

Implementation Details

#1: Data Integration and Standardization

  • Tools : Fivetran, Snowflake, dbt
  • What we did :
  • Configured Fivetran connectors for Salesforce and QuickBooks; raw data landed in RAW schema with source-specific naming.
  • Automated custodian and APX file ingestion via S3/SFTP and Snowpipe Auto-Ingest; implemented historical backfills and hourly refresh.
  • Built dbt staging models (stg_) to normalize instrument identifiers (CUSIP/ISIN), standardize timestamps/time zones, enforce types, deduplicate, and reconcile account-to-client mappings.
  • Applied dbt tests and schema contracts upstream of marts to ensure reliability.

#2: Core Modeling and Subject Marts

  • Tools : dbt, Snowflake
  • What we did :
  • Constructed conformed dimensions : dim_client (SCD2), dim_account (SCD2), dim_security; reference tables for custodians and advisors.
  • Built fact layers for fct_trades, fct_positions_daily, fct_cash_movements, fct_performance_snapshots, and fct_revenue.
  • Implemented business rules : trade_date ≤ settle_date, negative share checks, reasonability thresholds for accruals/fees, custodian vs APX reconciliation tolerances by asset class.
  • Created Gold marts for Investment (positions/performance), Operations (exceptions/reconciliations), Compliance (regulatory extracts readiness), and Finance (revenue/fees).

#3: Security, Governance, and Cost Management

  • Tools : Snowflake, Azure AD, Power BI
  • What we did :
  • Enforced Azure AD SSO, Snowflake masking policies for PII, and row access policies for book-of-business isolation.
  • Established separate warehouses for ELT and BI; autosuspend (60s) and resource monitors to control spend; query tagging for chargeback and optimization.
  • Published dbt docs for end-to-end lineage; Power BI lineage and endorsements for certified datasets.

#4: Orchestration and Operations

  • Tools : dbt Cloud (or scheduled runs), Snowflake Tasks/Streams, Fivetran
  • What we did :
  • Scheduled incremental dbt runs aligned with Fivetran syncs and Snowpipe events.
  • Used Snowflake Tasks and Streams to detect upstream changes and trigger downstream refreshes and exception checks.
  • Monitored freshness, test pass rates, and sync success (>99.7%) with alerting to Slack/Email.

#5: Consumption and Decision Support

  • Tools : Power BI
  • What we did :
  • Delivered domain apps :
  • Investment : Portfolio Health (T+0 positions, drift >2% alerts, performance drilldowns)
  • Operations : Trade Exceptions and Reconciliations (breaks by custodian/account, time-to-resolution)
  • Compliance : Filing readiness, data completeness, pipeline health
  • Finance : Revenue Attribution by product, client segment, and advisor
  • Implemented certified datasets with clear owners, refresh SLAs, and RLS; enabled ad-hoc analysis on governed models.

Data Models and Tables (examples)

Staging stg_apx_tradesstg_apx_positionsstg_custodian_positionsstg_salesforce_accountsstg_quickbooks_invoices
Core dim_client (SCD2)dim_account (SCD2)dim_securityfct_tradesfct_positions_dailyfct_cash_ movementsfct_revenue
Marts mart_investment_positionsmart_performance_overviewmart_ops_exceptionsmart_compliance_readinessmart_revenue_attribution
Monitoring met_data_freshnessmet_dbt_test_resultsmet_reconciliation_status

Outcomes

Reporting and efficiency

  • Quarterly reporting effort reduced from ~240 hours to ~112 hours across three cycles.
  • Pipeline maintenance time reduced by ~62% after migrating to Fivetran + dbt.

Data quality and reliability

  • QA defects per reporting cycle decreased from 13.2 to 1.0; dbt test pass rate improved to 98.8%.
  • Sync success rate >99.7%; reconciliations surfaced and resolved earlier via exception dashboards.

Latency and performance

  • Salesforce and QuickBooks data refresh every 15 minutes; custodian/APX files hourly; near real-time positions/trades where supported.
  • Snowflake p95 query times under ~2.3 seconds on certified reports even as data volume scaled ~4.6x.

Adoption and satisfaction

  • 55 monthly active Power BI users; 21 certified reports; 78% DAU within investment and operations.
  • NPS improved from 46 to 51 post-launch; faster turnaround on data requests (SLA attainment up from 65% to 88%).

Compliance readiness

  • All regulatory deadlines met for three consecutive quarters; complete audit trails and lineage simplified reviews.

Tech Stack

Snowflake

  • Elastic compute isolation via virtual warehouses, separation of storage and compute, Time Travel, secure data sharing, and robust governance features.

Fivetran

  • Managed connectors and scheduling reduce pipeline maintenance; predictable costs with MAR-based pricing.

dbt

  • Transformation-as-code with built-in testing, documentation, and CI/CD for reliable analytics engineering.

Power BI

  • Widely adopted enterprise BI with strong governance and security, ideal for executive and operational reporting.

Implementation Timeline

Weeks 0–2

  • Discovery, source profiling, data contracts, KPI definitions

Weeks 3–6

  • Fivetran connectors, Snowpipe for files, RAW landing (Bronze)

Weeks 7–10

  • dbt STG/CORE (Silver), initial marts (Gold) for positions/trades/performance

Weeks 11–14

  • Certified Power BI datasets, RLS, workspace governance, deployment pipelines

Weeks 15–18

  • UAT, performance tuning, training, rollout; iterative dashboard expansion thereafter

Representative KPI Examples

  • Reporting cycle time : 240h → 112h
  • Defects per cycle : 13.2 → 1.0
  • Data request SLA attainment : 65% → 88%
  • Sync success : >99.7%
  • p95 query time on certified reports : <2.3s

Testimonial

Team Composition

  • Project Manager: 1
  • Data Architects: 2
  • ETL Developers: 2
  • Database Administrator: 1
  • BI Developer: 1
  • Quality Assurance Specialist: 1
  • Support Staff: 1

Testimonials

Real-World Results from Satisfied Clients Across Key Industries

Manufacturing

"Predictive maintenance and real-time supply chain insights have cut our downtime by nearly 30%. Data is no longer a bottleneck it’s become our competitive advantage."

- VP of Operations

Retail & E-commerce

"Delivering personalized recommendations at scale used to be out of reach. Now, real-time analytics have boosted both conversions and inventory efficiency across all channels."

- Chief Digital Officer

Financial Services

"Compliance reporting that once took weeks now happens in hours. Alongside advanced fraud detection, our risk management framework is stronger and more agile than ever."

- Head of Risk & Compliance

Manufacturing

"7xcel helped us streamline our supply chain operations with smarter AI-driven insights. Their approach simplified our processes and gave us greater confidence in decision-making."

- Chief Operations Officer

Retail

"The personalization engine built by 7xcel transformed how we connect with our customers. Their deep understanding of retail AI made it easy for us to deliver more relevant and engaging experiences."

- VP, Digital Innovation

Finance

"7xcel’s AI solutions have strengthened the way we protect and manage our transactions. Their expertise has been a reliable partner in ensuring trust and security for our clients."

- Chief Risk Officer

Talk To Us

Contact number

+1 770 796 0077

Email Address

biz@7xcel.com

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