Investment Manager
Investment Manager was developed by datb in conjunction with ICS Consulting and is used for the optimisation of asset investments. It is in use by a number of the UK's largest water utilities, and is used for the annual optimisation, planning and programming of billions of pounds of asset expenditure across the UK every year.
The product allows the recording, assessment, scoring and optimisation of very large numbers (hundreds of thousands) of investment options. The optimal portfolio is determined by the use of linear problem-solving algorithms that select the best mix of solutions and schedule each within the investment window (typically 25 years) according to a set of constraints expressed in terms of financial, resource, benefits realisation requirements and so on.
Multiple scenarios may be created to test the effect of external influences, for instance expectations of the cost of funding, energy costs, or anticipated changes to the regulatory framework. Selected scenarios may then be compared in various ways, allowing the impact of changes or assumptions to be evaluated.
The assessment of potential investments is based on a set of Output Performance Measures (OPMs) that are configured within the tool. Each OPM represents a set of measurable criteria that may be applied to an investment need and each of its potential solutions in respect of a single dimension of the implicit risk associated with the need and the benefit conferred by the solution. This allows the construction of portfolios that fulfil numerous requirements in the most cost-effective way, rather than just being a list of investments ranked by cost / benefit.
The application as a whole is highly configurable, enabling its use in a wide range of industries working in differing regulatory, technical and commercial environments. In addition to configuration of the standard package, we can provide seamlessly integrated bespoke functionality to allow a complete fit to individual requirements.
See our Anglian Water case study for an example of a full-scale implementation of Investment Manager.