Data Infrastructure Modernization for a National Institutional Lender

Client Profile

A top-50 U.S. middle-market lender managing a $20B+ portfolio across multiple fund structures, CLO vehicles, and direct lending strategies.

The Challenge

The firm's technology infrastructure had not kept pace with its growth. Portfolio data lived across 1,200+ disconnected Excel workbooks. Monthly reporting required 3–4 days of manual consolidation with significant error risk. Business logic was embedded in undocumented VBA macros that only two team members understood. New fund launches required weeks of manual setup, and the audit trail was effectively non-existent.

What We Built

Working directly with the firm's technology, operations, and fund management teams, GrayBeck designed and implemented a complete data infrastructure overhaul:

SQL Server Database Architecture

A centralized data warehouse with dedicated schemas for fund reference data, loan-level portfolio data, and hypothetical allocation modeling. Canonical key generation and entity resolution across all data sources.

Automated Loan Tape Ingestion

ETL pipelines to ingest, normalize, and validate loan tapes from disparate lender formats (Excel, CSV, PDF). Strict type checking and business rule validation before any data enters the warehouse.

Excel/VSTO Add-in Platform

A custom C#/VSTO Excel add-in that connects directly to the SQL backend, giving analysts the familiar Excel interface with database-grade reliability, version control, and role-based access. Replaced dozens of fragile standalone workbooks.

Fund Reporting and Waterfall Engines

Automated portfolio analytics including IRR, MOIC, and waterfall distribution calculations. Real-time PowerBI dashboards replaced the manual monthly reporting cycle.

Closing Model Automation

Standardized the fund closing process from a multi-week manual effort to a repeatable, auditable workflow.

The Results

3w → 2dReporting latency reduced from 3 weeks to under 2 days

1,200+Disconnected spreadsheets consolidated into a single governed data source

100%Audit trail coverage — from effectively zero to fully queryable history

~80%Reduction in new fund setup time

The firm's technology team now operates on infrastructure they can maintain, extend, and trust

Engagement Model

This engagement began as a focused assessment and has evolved into an ongoing advisory and development partnership spanning multiple years. GrayBeck continues to support the firm's data infrastructure, tooling enhancements, and new fund launches.

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