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|---Module:text|Size:Small---| In an exclusive interview with FundsPeople, Rui Lourenço Santos, Director of Asset Management Solutions at Celfocus, shares how Celfocus AMS evolved into a modern SaaS platform supporting asset managers in an increasingly complex and regulated environment.
Here’s the full interview transcription:
The technology behind 3 Comma Capital’s fund management
Celfocus AMS is an asset management system developed by Celfocus specifically for asset management companies. As explained by Rui Lourenço Santos, Director of Asset Management Solutions, the platform addresses “the complex and regulatory needs of these organisations”, automating critical middle- and back-office processes, from asset valuation to accounting and regulatory reporting.
With more than 35 years of continuous evolution, Celfocus AMS “represents the culmination of all the knowledge and experience gathered by the team”, now standing as a SaaS solution that ensures flexibility and fast implementation. In the case of 3 Comma Capital, “it was the core element supporting all critical operations, from the daily valuation of assets to the production of reports for regulators and stakeholders”.
The technology also underpins the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) service provided by Celfocus, enabling 3CC to “transform fixed back-office costs into variable and flexible ones” and focus on higher-value activities.
A modern, intuitive and constantly evolving platform
The new generation of Celfocus AMS was born from the opportunity to redesign the former Binfolio platform, drawing on decades of experience. As Rui Lourenço Santos explains, the goal was clear: “If we were to start today, with all the experience accumulated and everything we’ve learned along the way, how would we build the solution?”
The result is a platform “with an intuitive, modern user experience, designed with the client’s business and operations at its core”, while maintaining “the robustness of the calculation algorithms, an area where we have always been a reference”. According to Rui, client feedback confirms this direction: “The first differentiating aspect that stands out is how easy it is to access and use,” he noted.
From a technological standpoint, Celfocus AMS is a web-based SaaS solution in constant evolution, with automatic monthly updates and no client-side intervention required. “Instead of large, infrequent version releases, we deliver small monthly increments that enhance functionality and ensure continuous maintenance and correction,” he added.
Celfocus adapted processes and controls crypto asset management
Managing a crypto asset fund required Celfocus to create “a specific configuration model for crypto and make it work in daily operations”. The work was distributed across five areas: transactions, accounting, compliance, valuation, and APIs, in addition to the BPO component.
“We created transaction types tailored to the crypto universe: token swaps, trading fees, gas fees, staking rewards, claim rewards, and funding rate,” explained Rui Lourenço Santos, noting that the team also had to test the infrastructure “to ensure it supported numbers with multiple decimal places, avoiding loss of precision through rounding”.
In accounting, “the first decision was how to classify gains, whether as capital gains or as currency gains, defining from there the accounting treatment and ensuring traceability through to reporting”. In terms of compliance, “token exposure controls” were implemented and integrated into the regular monitoring cycles.
Through the APIs, Celfocus ensured data updates on the 3 Comma Capital website “unit prices, performance metrics, and benchmarks” while in the BPO scope, it “empowered the team to handle a new asset class, with its own language and operational flows”.
First inclusion of crypto assets required technical dialogue with CMVM
According to Rui Lourenço Santos, coordination with CMVM (the Portuguese Securities Market Commission) was “an important aspect of this process”. Although the formal interaction with the regulator was conducted by the management company, Celfocus “closely supported the client in every stage of that interaction”.
The main complexity arose from the fact that this was “a new asset class being included for the first time in CMVM reports”. From the outset, the team aimed to “identify all points requiring clarification or definition and present concrete proposals to support interpretation and decision-making with CMVM”.
This close support proved essential to anticipate potential obstacles and ensure compliance with regulations. “Among the topics addressed jointly were the financial instrument category code, the issuer to be reported, the country of origin of the security, the market to be reported, and the most appropriate CFI code definition,” Rui explained. The result was “a solid and aligned approach with regulatory requirements, ensuring full compliance with CMVM standards,” he concluded.
Usability, functional breadth, and partnership define the difference
“The main differentiating factor is the intuitive and modern user experience,” said Rui Lourenço Santos, emphasising that this is “by far the most frequently mentioned by all clients”. This usability translates into lower training needs and greater operational efficiency.
This ease-of-use results “from how we built the product based on decades of experience, direct contact with clients, and a team that deeply understands the business”. The goal, he said, was to create a tool that teams “would genuinely enjoy using in their daily work”.
Another factor that sets Celfocus AMS apart is its flexibility and broad functional coverage. “When deployed at a client, setup and customisation to the client’s reality are achieved through configuration, not a series of bespoke developments,” he explained. This capability allows management of mutual funds, real estate funds, pension funds, venture capital, and alternative funds within a single platform, eliminating the need for multiple systems.
There is also a dimension that Rui Lourenço Santos considers essential: “Our way of working and the ecosystem we’ve built around the product, fueled by constant client feedback and a genuine partnership relationship.” This proximity is reflected in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) service, which several entities have already adopted, entrusting Celfocus with the execution of their daily back-office operations. “In my view, there can be no greater demonstration of trust,” he concluded.
