Kennedy Capital Management Joins Wave of Investment Management Firms Switching Technology to Ridgeline

Team at 44-year-old firm calls the single, real-time platform the “optimal system we’ve been looking for.”

Ridgeline Staff Writers

INCLINE VILLAGE, NEV. - Ridgeline, the cloud platform for investment management, announced today that Saint Louis, Missouri-based firm Kennedy Capital Management has joined the growing roster of asset management firms that have transitioned to the single, real-time system.

After many years of “patchwork, disparate solutions,” the Kennedy team could envision what an ideal system looked like but didn’t know if it would ever exist. “Then we got a cold call from Ridgeline. Coming away from that demo, I thought, this is a better system; it’s what we've been looking for,” says Patrick Wolcott, Chief Operating Officer.

Ridgeline is the first cloud-native, enterprise solution for investment management, built to help firms spend more time on what matters. Core functions like portfolio management, trade order management, and client relationship management are brought together with unified data on a single platform with an intuitive interface. Ridgeline gives everyone at a firm access — not just those with a seat license as is common with legacy systems — to the same real-time, actionable insights. Customers are replacing up to 9 disparate software packages and a multitude of integrations in their transition from previous solutions.  

“Ridgeline is a one-stop shop that does everything that investment management firms need from an operational perspective.” Patrick Wolcott, Chief Operating Officer, Kennedy Capital Management

The Kennedy team appreciates the benefits of moving to a single system. “Now we have one vendor, one system, and one data feed,” Wolcott explains. “The efforts to bridge the inefficiencies and challenges of our old systems are resolved in Ridgeline.” 

The firm also sees a financial advantage in streamlining everything in one place. “Ridgeline has given us the opportunity to be more efficient and deliberate in how we're spending our money,” says Wolcott.

“The speed of delivery from the Ridgeline side—we just had no idea how quickly you all can move. These changes could take months or years with previous systems. Now it's days or weeks.” Niraj Shah, Chief Strategy Officer, Kennedy Capital Management

After an implementation described as “very high touch, very comfortable,” Chief Strategy Officer Niraj Shah is optimistic about what the firm will unlock by being on one intuitive system. “Ridgeline just makes sense. So more of our team is utilizing the system and engaged with information — it can only benefit our clients. It’s hard to describe what’s possible now.”

Ridgeline CEO Dave Blair says, “We’re excited to welcome Kennedy onto the Ridgeline platform. They’ve been exceptional partners and their feedback on key areas such as portfolio construction and modeling has helped us deliver a best-in-class solution that all Ridgeline customers will benefit from.”

Shah is looking forward to the 44-year-old firm’s next chapter. “Ridgeline allows us to have an integrated platform to help us best support our clients and growth. It’s just very exciting.”

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