With the troubled capital markets and weak economic outlook, issuers of covered bonds and asset backed portfolios are finding that it is necessary to prepare their assets when it comes to be flexible managing the portfolios.

Issuers need a single way to integrate different data sources and definitions into one system. However synthesising the copious amounts of data from various source systems is a challenge in itself.

This has made data and technology increasingly vital to have a short turn- around time to bring transactions according to the investors’ appetite.

Many issuers and originators have various different in-house servicing and administration systems. However most current systems have been designed for the administration and marketing side of the mortgage business.

These systems are invariably not equipped to incorporate fully integrated funding, analysis and reporting tools as required when one wishes to fund in the public markets.

Issuers generally provide the market with as much information as possible, by compiling and linking various in-house Access databases and Excel spreadsheets, but this often does not meet all the desired disclosure requests of investors, rating agencies and data vendors, especially on an ongoing basis.

Due to the frequently changing and expanding information demands, unstable IT infrastructure often emerges. The main culprit is the high data volumes, especially with regard to high volume loan portfolios.

Using such IT infrastructure can result in unnecessary and dangerous risk exposures for issuers. Furthermore, investors expect to be able to trust the retained parties to provide concise and professional services in a timely and continued fashion