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Case StudyFinancial Services

Brooks Macdonald transforms spreadsheet chaos into enterprise risk clarity

Transforming spreadsheet chaos into enterprise risk clarity with connected governance.

Brooks Macdonald: Risk Clarity

The Challenge

Brooks Macdonald, a UK wealth management firm, managed enterprise risk through fragmented spreadsheets and disconnected tools. Risk owners tracked domains using inconsistent taxonomies whilst senior stakeholders lacked real-time visibility into risk exposure.

Our Solution

Pulsar delivered a focused ServiceNow IRM MVP establishing centralised risk and control management with entity hierarchy, standardised taxonomies, and Advanced Risk workflows transforming ad hoc processes into structured risk identification and response.

1
Single risk system
Real-time
Dashboard visibility
MVP
Rapid time-to-value
Scalable
Architecture

A puzzle of data preventing risk oversight

Brooks Macdonald manages wealth and assets for individuals, pension funds, institutions, charities and trusts across the UK and internationally. Operating through multiple entities in a highly regulated environment, the firm's reputation hinges on demonstrating robust risk governance.

Risk owners tracked their domains in separate spreadsheets with inconsistent taxonomies. Control effectiveness existed as isolated assessments. When audit requests arrived, teams scrambled to compile information from multiple sources. Senior stakeholders lacked dashboards showing current enterprise risk posture. Risk committees operated from static reports assembled manually before each meeting.

Creating a single source of truth

Pulsar delivered a focused IRM MVP establishing centralised risk and control management. Rather than comprehensive implementation upfront, the engagement prioritised capabilities providing immediate improvement whilst architecting for future expansion.

The foundation began with entity and organisational hierarchy design aligned to Brooks Macdonald's multi-entity operating model. Standardised risk and control taxonomies replaced inconsistent spreadsheet approaches. Advanced Risk workflows introduced structured processes for risk identification, assessment and response with clear ownership, approval gates and audit trails.

The MVP approach delivered rapid value whilst validating that ServiceNow IRM addressed operational requirements. Extending into Audit, Compliance and Regulatory Change will build on proven foundations.

Risk management built for speed and precision

Senior leaders make faster, better-informed decisions through live dashboards. Risk committees operate from current data rather than outdated snapshots. When audit or regulatory requests arrive, evidence is structured and immediately accessible. An incident logging portal enables all employees to report concerns through consistent workflows. Risk management finally enables the business rather than consuming it.

Solutions Delivered

Key Outcomes

01

Single system of record for enterprise risk and controls

02

Real-time dashboards providing live visibility into risk exposure and control effectiveness

03

Complete audit trails with structured evidence for regulatory requests

04

Incident logging portal for all employees with consistent workflows

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Rapid time-to-value through MVP approach protecting long-term IRM roadmap

06

Future-proofed architecture for Audit, Compliance and Regulatory Change

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