From Fragmented to Fluid: How Marquette Revolutionised Their Investor Experience with Caruso

Introduction: Quality-Focused Property Investment Management

Founded in 2009, Marquette Properties has established itself as a specialist Property Investment Manager with approximately $1.33 billion in funds under management. Focusing primarily on strategic office and retail assets within Queensland, Australia, Marquette's expertise lies in acquiring, refining, and managing properties with a view to adding value and delivering Core Plus returns to their investors.

For both private clients seeking unique, above-market return opportunities and institutional investors requiring reliable execution, Marquette's meticulous approach to property investment within South East Queensland has consistently delivered results. This commitment to excellence extends to how they manage their investor relationships and fund operations, recognizing that effective technology is crucial to delivering the professional experience their sophisticated investors expect.

The Challenge: Fragmented Systems Creating Operational Inefficiency

Before implementing Caruso, Marquette faced significant operational challenges with their previous systems that were hindering efficiency and the investor experience.

"Previously we used another CRM and found it quite clunky to use," explains Kate Rizzo, Fund Accountant & Distribution Manager at Marquette. "For example, when we generated distribution statements, we then had to send them out through a completely different program or application. There was no direct integration."

The lack of integration between systems created significant operational bottlenecks:

• No Investor Portal: "We didn't have access to any sort of investor portal. Every single mail-out was done via email, and investors weren't able to log in at any time to see their holdings and reports," notes Rizzo. This limitation was particularly frustrating for investors who were accustomed to self-service portals with other investment managers.
• Manual Distribution Processing: Monthly distributions to investors required extensive manual intervention. "Rather than the distribution calculations being done automatically, we had to maintain them in a separate Excel sheet and then upload them onto the platform. There was no integration with banking files or ABA files, so that had to be done separately," Rizzo explains.
• Time-Consuming Investor Onboarding: "All the KYC checks were done manually by our team. There was often a lot of time involved going through identification, wholesale investor certificates, chasing people for updates and things like that," says Rizzo. During capital raising periods, these processes consumed a significant portion of the team's time.
• Laborious Tax Statement Generation: End-of-financial-year reporting created substantial stress. "Tax statements had to be done manually by myself. The templates were not integrated either, so we had to create our own template, perform manual calculations, and then upload it. It was quite stressful as an end-of-financial-year process with everything else we have on our plate," Rizzo recounts.
• Slow Support Response: "The customer service was all Europe-based, so it was really hard with time differences. Sometimes it would take a couple of days to get a response to a question, which definitely slowed the team down a lot," adds Rizzo.

These limitations weren't just creating internal inefficiencies—they were beginning to impact the investor experience. As Marquette continued to grow, they recognized the need for a more integrated, efficient solution that could scale with their business and enhance their professional reputation with investors.

The Solution: A Unified Fund Management Platform

Marquette selected Caruso's platform to address these challenges and future-proof their operations. The implementation process was carefully planned to align with the expiration of their previous license, with a smooth transition period from sign-on to go-live.

The Caruso solution provided Marquette with:

• Comprehensive Investor Portal: Investors and their authorised advisors can now access their documents, reports, and investment information directly through a secure portal. The portal displays portfolio values and changes in investment value over time, giving investors on-demand access to their information.
• Automated Distribution Processing: The platform streamlined the monthly distribution process with automatic calculations and integrated payment file generation, eliminating the need for separate spreadsheets and manual uploads.
• Streamlined Investor Onboarding: "One thing that we love about Caruso is that investors can actually go in and complete their onboarding themselves if they feel inclined to," explains Rizzo. This self-service capability significantly reduced the administrative burden during capital raising periods.
• Automated Tax Statement Generation: "Tax statements are now all generated automatically through the system. The support team set up the templates and calculations, and once the formats were agreed, the tax statements were just generated in the background. This has saved hours and hours of time," Rizzo shares.
• Enhanced Visibility and Support: The platform's "impersonate" function allows the Marquette team to see exactly what investors see when they encounter issues. "If someone emails and says they can't see something or don't understand something, I can log in as them and identify exactly what they're talking about," explains Rizzo. Additionally, the live chat support feature ensures prompt responses to queries, typically within the same day or even the same hour.
• Seamless Implementation Support: The Caruso team provided consistent engagement throughout the transition process, with regular calls to discuss workstreams, deadlines, and progress. They undertook significant background work, including transferring all existing investor KYC documents to the new system, minimising disruption to Marquette's day-to-day operations.

As Toby Lewis, CEO of Marquette, notes "Working with a group that comes from our background of property funds management makes life a lot easier. We talk the same language, and the improvements that Caruso has made on our two-year journey have been fantastic. It's ever-refining and making our life easier all the time."

The Results: Enhanced Efficiency and Investor Confidence

The implementation of Caruso has delivered transformative benefits across Marquette's operations and investor relations:

• Operational Efficiency: "Caruso is like having an extra person in the business. We're far more efficient now using this one platform. Previously, we were having to integrate two or three platforms to produce the same outcome," Lewis observes. This efficiency gain has allowed the team to focus more on value-adding activities rather than administrative tasks.
• Improved Investor Experience: "Overall, there's been a really positive response. Investors enjoy having access to their information on demand, particularly being able to see the changes in their investment value over time and access reports when they need them," says Rizzo. The ability to give accountants and advisors direct portal access has further streamlined communications and saved time for both the Marquette team and investors.
• Reduced Administrative Burden: The automation of key processes like tax statement generation, distribution processing, and investor onboarding has significantly reduced manual effort and minimised the risk of errors. "It's just reduced the amount of emails I've had to resend or dig up, as we didn't have that previously," Rizzo notes.
• Enhanced Professional Image: "We definitely feel like there are fewer gaps in the information and communication that we have with our investors. It feels like a much more professional and far less homogenous program," says Lewis. This enhanced professional image has strengthened Marquette's reputation and investor confidence.
• Improved Capital Raising Capability: "From a capital raising and distribution perspective, Caruso is a far better platform for tracking how we're going during a capital raise or onboarding investors throughout the year. The database, the functionality of the CRM, is far improved," Lewis explains. The platform allows the team to effectively track prospects and manage the entire investor journey from initial interest through to onboarding.

"Caruso has been a godsend for Marquette Properties," explains Lewis. "It has created a much more efficient platform for us to interact with our investors and improve our internal processes as well. Our investors have a much better dashboard and access to information. We feel like we have greater cybersecurity, and our team enjoys working with it more than programs we've used in the past."

By embracing Caruso's technology, Marquette has created a foundation that supports their growth ambitions while maintaining the high-quality, professional approach that distinguishes their investment philosophy in the Australian commercial property market.

"Caruso is enhancing our chances of success immeasurably," concludes Lewis. "Having a fit-for-purpose software has just made life easier and better."