Orange-outlined icon of a person reading an investment book of record.

Stop Compromising on your IBOR: The Path to Accounting as a Real-Time Data Source

The IBOR Legacy Struggle

The Investment Book of Record (IBOR) is an essential tool for asset managers and should ideally provide  multi-asset class, multi-jurisdiction and multi-investment product views of cash, security positions and tax lots across the entire investment lifecycle, powered by real-time accounting data and control frameworks.

 

However, traditional IBOR systems built on outdated technology mostly lack the robust accounting capabilities, data flexibility, integrity, scalability and automation needed for modern investment operations. This is where most asset managers are operating today – relying on limited legacy investment accounting and trade order management systems with fragmented asset coverage, batch processing, siloed data and cloud-enabled workarounds. 

 

While Accounting Book of Record (ABOR) requirements are highly regulated and therefore more consistently defined, we’ve found that when asset managers talk about IBOR, the meaning or manifestations vary, often due to myopic ideas of what’s possible outside the confines of outdated technologies that have failed to keep up with evolving needs.

 

When we founded FundGuard, we saw an opportunity to redefine investment accounting with transformative technology that would break the cycle of compromise we were seeing among asset managers. We envisioned a unified investment accounting platform capable of powering multiple business views across the front, middle and back office with a single source of truth and robust accounting and data functionality to overcome today’s broken IBORs. 

 

We see the evolution of IBOR as a critical step toward achieving this vision of a fully integrated, real-time investment accounting solution that altogether eliminates the need for multiple systems to support trading, accounting, custody recon and other uses of the funds or portfolios data:

 

  • Eliminate Data Fragmentation – A single, real-time source of truth for positions, cash balances, and transactions.
  • Support Multi-Asset & Multi-Book Accounting – Cross-asset and cross-jurisdiction accounting views for front, middle and back office needs to support trading, accounting and custody recon as well as performance and client reporting.
  • Scale & Automate – Replace batch processing with real-time data enabling more timely and better risk-adjusted and accounting-and-tax-aware decision-making, faster trade execution, and better compliance.
  • Reduce Costs & Operational Risk – Automate reconciliation, exception identification and investigation loop, settlement processing, and client and regulatory reporting.

 

A well-designed IBOR can transform asset management operations by eliminating inefficiencies, yet many firms still struggle to evolve beyond fragmented, outdated platforms.

 

Scaling the IBOR Maturity Model

The following IBOR Maturity Model illustrates the industry’s investment accounting evolution and outlines how firms have moved or are moving from basic, fragmented investment accounting to a unified view. 

Mountain Infographic

 

Today, most asset managers are operating at the above-illustrated Tier 3, relying on legacy investment accounting systems with limited asset coverage, batch processing, and siloed data. To achieve true evolution, tiers 4 through 7 must be achieved in full but the approach to date has been incremental at best. 

 

With Tiers 4 and 5, asset managers are able to get real-time intra-day cash, positions, and cash forecasting while exercising appropriate process and data controls across all assets from equities and fixed income to derivatives, loans, swaps, and private assets – along with the ability to slice and dice the data based on manager, custodian, strategy, encumbrance, and other flexible criteria. 

 

This is great progress but still not peak IBOR. Further meaningful breakthrough begins at Tier 6 where the unparalleled performance and scalability of a fully cloud-native system come into play, evolving from a stand-alone IBOR to a fully unified real-time accounting system—laying the groundwork for multi-view investment accounting.

 

At Tier 7, all books of record seamlessly integrate into a single platform, eliminating redundant systems, reducing reconciliation efforts, and ensuring full data consistency. This marks a critical milestone on the journey to true, front-to-back office integration powered by accounting as a real-time data source.

 

Beyond IBOR: Achieving a Unified View

With FundGuard’s cloud-native platform, asset managers move beyond traditional IBOR toward aTier 7 real-time, multi-view accounting solution that unifies all asset classes, all books of record and all accounting views into a single, scalable system. With it, asset managers benefit from having:

 

  • Accounting as a Real-Time Data Source – Continuous intra-day updates across all books of record, ensuring instant visibility into positions, tax lots, and cash balances.
  • Unified Front-to-Back Integration – A single cloud-native platform replacing multiple accounting systems across asset managers, custodians, and fund administrators.
  • Full Asset Coverage – A single hub that natively supports equities, fixed income, derivatives, OTCs, and private assets — all within a single system.
  • Automated Corporate Actions & Income Processing – Reduces manual intervention, minimizing operational risk and enhancing efficiency.
  • Multi-Dimensional Reporting – All books of record, all asset classes, all investment products and all jurisdiction-specific views are generated in real time, eliminating the redundancy of multiple  systems.
  • Scalability Without Limits – Processes many millions of tax lots in real time, supporting firms from a few accounts to thousands.


FundGuard’s approach isn’t just another step forward – it’s a complete redefinition of investment accounting. Are you ready to start your path to transformation?

Request a demo.

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About the Author

Lior Yogev
Formerly Head of North America at Multifonds, which provides asset management solutions to large banks and asset managers. Lior was part of the executive team that turned around the company and sold it to Temenos. Prior to Multifonds, Lior was a technology investment banker at Goldman Sachs in New York, and before that led software development teams at Radware and as an officer at an elite intelligence corps Unit 8200.
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