News, Insights
"Aerodynamics are for those who can't build engines" – Enzo Ferrari
The first quarter of every year is a busy time at Enhance as our Monitoring, Portfolio and Consultancy services review the prior calendar year with clients and provide insights on the outlook for the year ahead. Whilst almost all of our clients subscribe to quarterly investment oversight, a new year provides a natural opportunity for investors to review, reflect and strategise in much the same way as Formula One executives approach a new campaign.
2022 was a transformational year for Enhance in terms of growth and profitability, with our business pivoting onto a podium spot following several years of restructuring and investment into talent and technology. Our strategy to continue to invest in our business during the challenging backdrop of the pandemic was certainly not the easy option, but we have a young leadership team here with a long-term time horizon and so we were prepared to endure some short-term pain for long-term gain.
In prior business updates I have spoken about new hires we have made into Enhance and that has continued so far in 2023 with the hire of a Senior Investment Analyst focused on our Monitoring service, a Delivery Manager focused on project management, and a Data Engineer focused on automation. We are also actively on the lookout for more Software Developers and Investment Analysts to add to the paddock.
Most of our hires this year, as they have been in the last few years, will be technical individuals joining our Operations Team. Whilst racing cars need good drivers to get onto the podium, neither the car nor the driver can win without a decent engine looked after by skilled mechanics. Our engine is our proprietary software, Mosaic, and our Operations Team are our skilled mechanics, so we have prioritised getting this area of our business right and are investing accordingly.
Our COO Justin Simpson, the Adrian Newey to my Christian Horner, has been instructed to create the most robust and performant engine possible for Team Enhance - prioritising substance over style, much like the Enzo Ferrari quote at the beginning of this update. It is easy to add pretty decals to a chassis, but much harder to create an engine that can withstand the rigours of multiple Formula One campaigns and it's the principle of the latter that we're interested in modelling Mosaic on.
This year we intend to deliver a best-in-class platform which, much like a 1.6L V6 hybrid engine, is as efficient as it is performant. The former is particularly important to Enhance as we seek to provide cost effective, whole of market and timely services to our clients. This is only possible through technology and associated automation which are the themes that dominate our Mosaic development roadmap in 2023, in much the same way as they did in 2022.
Meanwhile, our racing drivers in the Relationship Management and Advisory Teams have been climbing the grid and grinding out consistent results as their cars are being refined under them. Whilst our race locations are considerably less glamorous than Formula One, both teams have travelled extensively already this year including a Q1 trip to the Caribbean, where pit stops were made in Cayman and Bermuda. This is our first trip to this important client hub since the onset of the pandemic, so long overdue.
Getting out onto the track and seeing clients will always remain an important part of our client service delivery and this will continue to gather pace now that lockdown restrictions have fallen away. This coming quarter the team are travelling to Asia with pit stops in Hong Kong and Singapore, another important client hub for Enhance that we have been unable to travel to for several years due to Covid-19. Blending technology and personal relationship management is our approach, irrespective of where our clients are located.
Cognisant, amongst other ESG considerations, of our carbon footprint from global travel, I am pleased to say that we have established GIVES: Team Enhance's dedicated committee to address Governance, Inclusion, Volunteering, Environment and Societal considerations and initiatives. My hope and expectation is that this becomes an increasingly influential committee within our business, helping to ensure that Enhance evolves with perspective and a conscience. Look out for Enhance volunteers in various places throughout 2023 as an obvious example of our work in this area.
Finally, I'm delighted to confirm that Enhance's integration with the TrustQuay NavOne platform will go live in Q2 after almost two years of development and testing. The first stage integration delivers data input and workflow efficiencies which will ramp up in future stages of the integration to provide considerable operational benefits to our mutual clients. Your TrustQuay Account Manager is the first port of call to explore the integration and we will be happy to make introductions as necessary to secure demos for you.
We will put our pedal to the metal again in Q2 as we have done in Q1, and I look forward to sharing our developments with you again in a few months' time.
