Many alternative investment firms, such as large Family Offices, Fund-of-Funds, and Multi-Manager funds, rely on Salesforce for its powerful workflow and data management capabilities. The analysis and onboarding of investment managers can be a complex and critical process. By redesigning these processes in Salesforce around the true lifecycle of investment manager due diligence and onboarding, they can become a highly scalable, efficient set of processes. In this post, we will share how we recently accomplished this for one of our clients by integrating Salesforce with tools such as JotForm, Q!365, and SharePoint Online.
Streamlining Complexities of the Operational Due Diligence & Onboarding Procedures
Most funds think of Salesforce as just a CRM system, focused on the Fundraising and Investor Relations aspects of their firm. One of our newest clients, a multi-manager fund, was using Salesforce for their Operations, but they had used a Salesforce Partner who did not really understand the complexities of their business and had created a poor design with many manual steps in the workflows.
FinServ was brought in to take over from that Salesforce partner, fix the existing setup, and create streamlined workflows to better support the fund’s business users.
The New Manager Due Diligence Process
One of the first areas FinServ addressed was the process the client used to gather due diligence data on prospective new Managers. The client had already incorporated a tool called JotForm (a cloud-based form builder), which they used to gather DDQ information from managers. The previous Salesforce Partner was mistaken about JotForm’s ability to integrate fully with Salesforce. They told the client there was a field limitation to automation between JotForm and Salesforce, which turned out not to be true. While the integration with JotForm was not simple, the FinServ team was able to take a form with over 100 questions, including dependent questions and multi-record answers, and automatically load all that data into Salesforce, linking directly to the prospective new Manager.
Integration with SharePoint Online
Another area where the client needed help was their integration with SharePoint Online. The client was using a Salesforce tool with poor SharePoint Online integration, and user adoption failed due to numerous issues with the tool. Fortunately, FinServ had significant experience with a partner firm called QKom, which offers a tool called Q!365. FinServ implemented Q!365 several times and knew the functionality matched the clients’ use case which allowed a process to be designed where SharePoint Online folders would automatically be created and linked to the Manager’s records in Salesforce. This enabled both the Operations and Legal teams to easily access all documents supporting the Due Diligence and Onboarding processes.
By integrating these tools for the client and gaining a clear understanding of how their business operated, FinServ was able to streamline the client’s complex operations and address all the data and workflow issues that had persisted since the previous implementation. This has led to far greater user adoption and happiness with Salesforce as an Operational system.
Redesigning Salesforce to Optimally Support the Client’s Unique Business Requirements
After 21 years supporting Alternative Asset Managers, FinServ has come to understand that while some areas of the businesses are similar, the “secret sauce” for most funds means each client has unique processes that need to be supported by the system we are implementing. The client did not need incremental changes; they required a complete overhaul of the Salesforce design to optimally support their workflow.
Correcting Key Architectural Components
The previous Salesforce provider focused on tactical fixes, such as adding fields, adjusting layouts, creating one-off/non-cohesive automations, loading data without context, and addressing individual requests. However, without a deep understanding of the alternatives industry, the system was never fully aligned with the business and was neither scalable nor sustainable.
For instance, the previous Partner had configured the Account object with stages and a lifecycle. This is a common mistake made by many Salesforce partners who attempt to resolve a request without the confidence to push back when a solution does not work well. In this instance, lifecycles and stages do not make sense on the Account Object in Salesforce, and this should have been communicated. Additionally, the client was only partially using the Opportunity object, which they renamed Onboardings to track the Lifecycle of a prospective Manager. FinServ fixed this by moving all the Lifecycle components from the Account Object to the Salesforce standard Lead and Opportunity objects, and by moving all fields that change over time into the Opportunity object. Now, the client was set up for success because they were using Salesforce as intended. This allowed them to use core Pipeline reporting in Salesforce, which they previously could not.
Realigning Fragmented Data into Salesforce
Due to numerous manual workflows in the system, the client had often abandoned efforts to keep data up to date. The underlying data was fragmented. Some information was entered into Salesforce, while other data elements resided in spreadsheets. DDQ responses, as noted earlier, came from an external tool (JotForm) but were never integrated, so the data just sat in PDF’s, never getting entered into Salesforce. In addition to those issues, important details were often buried in emails or attachments and were not linked to Salesforce through the Outlook integration.
This fragmentation created real limitations. Manager records were inconsistent, making historical comparisons difficult. Reporting lacked reliability, and teams could not confidently rely on Salesforce as a reference point. The system existed, but the business did not trust it.
By implementing the JotForm tool to collect data and making it easily accessible in SharePoint through the Q!365 tool, users became more confident in the system, and user adoption increased significantly.
Structuring the Workflow Start to Finish
Key parts of the investment manager onboarding process were highly manual and lacked accountability. For example, risk limits were drafted in Excel or Word, shared via email, and revised outside the system. Term sheets and agreements were negotiated separately, and approvals were often implicit rather than structured. Tracking who had signed off and what had been agreed to required a lot of effort and context, rather than providing simple visibility within an application. These challenges made the process difficult to scale.
FinServ redefined the onboarding workflow. Each prospective manager now follows a defined path, with the fields (e.g., trading risk limits) required at each stage clearly defined and visible only when relevant. At every stage, Salesforce tracks progress and identifies who owns the next step. Additionally, to support the new process, we implemented automated workflows, custom data wizards, and conversion buttons that allow teams to navigate the process stages seamlessly. This combination of structured data and streamlined communication ensures a consistent firm-wide experience while preserving the flexibility users need to adapt to any unique onboarding nuances.
The Results: From Tracking Tool to Operational Platform
The result of this transformation was a shift from a basic tracking tool with fragmented data to a unified operational platform that serves as the single source of truth for the client’s onboarding lifecycle. By fully automating data intake with JotForm, Q!365/SharePoint for contextual document access and reconfiguring Salesforce object tracking and workflows, Salesforce now provides complete visibility across all teams, ensuring data and documents are consistent, comparable, and directly linked to their supporting documentation in SharePoint Online.
The impact was immediate: teams now spend less time chasing information and more time leveraging it to drive decisions. With clearer handoffs and more meaningful historical data, leadership gains the real-time visibility needed to understand exactly where each prospective investment manager stands and what the path to their full onboarding looks like.
Why Industry Expertise Matters
Ultimately, this transformation succeeded not just through technical execution but through industry expertise. Because onboarding in the alternatives space is iterative, judgment-driven, and cross-functional, supporting it effectively requires a deep understanding of how investment, risk, legal, and operations teams intersect. By bridging the gap between industry nuance and Salesforce expertise, FinServ moves beyond incremental fixes to build workflows that align with the reality of the business. The goal is never just to implement a system. It is to build one that actually works.
About FinServ Consulting
FinServ Consulting is an independent, experienced provider of business consulting, systems development, and integration services to alternative asset managers, global banks, and industry service providers. Founded in 2005, FinServ delivers customized world-class business and IT consulting services for the front, middle, and back-office. FinServ provides managers with optimal and first-class operating environments to support all investment styles and future asset growth. The FinServ team brings a wealth of experience working with the world’s largest and most complex asset management firms and global banks.
