‘A Massive Excel Workbook Is a Ticking Bomb’

Michael Margulis at Ameriprise Financial is no stranger to operational and IT challenges that stem from inefficient manual processes that pose operational risks.

(FTF’s PMCR 2026 serves as a forum for the major operational, IT, and managerial issues challenging those who work in performance measurement and client reporting. Michael Margulis, vice president, investment performance and analytics at Ameriprise Financial is no stranger to these challenges and he asserts that many firms are operating inefficiently because of manual processes pose operational risks such as “a massive Excel workbook with hundreds of multi-row formulas,” as he notes in this Q&A. He is also concerned about back-end validation and reconciliation processes that “are still not automated through reliable technology,” All is not lost, though, as he foresees that A.I., automation, and data analytics could play a critical role in reshaping performance and analytics, and client reporting.)

Professional Background/Expertise

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your role and what your day-to-day looks like at Ameriprise Financial?

A: I am the head of the investment performance and analytics team at a wealth management firm with approximately 10,000 financial advisors serving millions of mostly retail clients across the country.

In short, my team is responsible for maintaining an investment performance reporting infrastructure that allows our financial advisors to effectively evaluate and communicate performance of their clients’ portfolios.

Additionally, the team is in charge of producing investment analytics, including composite returns and other metrics, on hundreds of billions of assets across a number of managed account products such as Rep as Portfolio Manager (PM), Unified Managed Accounts (UMA), Separately Managed Accounts (SMA), Models, and others.

Q: What’s a recent project or initiative your team has worked on that has made the biggest impact for your organization?

A: Over the past couple of years, the team has played a critical role in advancing the launch of the firm’s new UMA platform called Signature Wealth, which is comprised of third-party models and SMAs.

As is the case with the launch of any new product, there are critical issues that require solutioning, including development of a comprehensive analytics-based research tool (a.k.a. investment proposal tool), client-facing proposal reporting, implementation of a third-party performance validation process, and decisions related to retainment of historical performance of products as they transition to the new platform.

Session Insights

Q: What inspired you to participate in PMCR 2026 and speak on "Data Visualization: Communicating Performance Effectively?”

A: I have been involved with FTF for the past few years and was previously on the advisory board helping shape the agenda for the conference.

This topic strikes the chord with me because I have learned over the many years of experience in this space how critical communication of performance is. It is not enough to accurately calculate it. You need to find the most effective way to communicate it to your client, be it a portfolio manager, a financial advisor or an end client such as a financial institution or an individual. It is not uncommon for folks to misinterpret the numbers if they are not positioned in the most clear and user-friendly format.

When it comes to investment performance, it’s relatively easy to view numerical results out of context, make irrelevant comparisons and ultimately walk away with the wrong impression. This session will tackle issues like that and explore ways firms can help themselves avoid falling victims to such shortfalls.

Q: What do you think makes "Data Visualization: Communicating Performance Effectively" especially relevant for today’s investment operations landscape?

A: It’s quite relevant today because the days of sending out paper reports or even posting PDF reports on client portals are coming to an end. The firms are (or at least should be) focused more on enhancing self-service, interactive, digital platforms where the users have the ability to quickly view recent data, manipulate tables, charts, and graphs to get the information they are looking for.

At the same time, this capability should be thought-provoking and invite engagement with a portfolio manager or a financial advisor. Positioning this in a way that minimizes the data misinterpretation risk is a challenge.

Industry Challenges & Trends

Q: What’s one of the biggest challenges firms are facing right now?

A: I believe many firms are still operating inefficiently due to many manual processes that also present operational risk (a massive Excel workbook with hundreds of multi-row formulas is a ticking bomb waiting to explode).

While technology platforms are now commonly used to calculate performance and other analytics, many back-end validation and reconciliation processes are still not automated through reliable technology.

Q: How do you foresee technology (A.I., blockchains, digital assets, automation, data analytics, etc.) reshaping your area of expertise over the next year or two? Any major shifts you are preparing for?

A: I see A.I., automation, and data analytics playing a critical role in partially reshaping the world of performance and analytics, and client reporting in the coming years. Some firms have made more advances in these areas that others, but ultimately everyone will be forced to think about these things or risk falling behind and becoming irrelevant.

Using a simple analogy, if you think back 30-to-40 years, it wasn’t uncommon for firms to calculate returns in Excel. Now, everyone is using either a vendor platform or a proprietary technology stack. Everything evolves and in another 30-to-40 years (but most likely 10-to-15), we’ll look at how we do things today in a similar fashion.

The PMCR Experience

Q: What are you most excited about learning at PMCR?

A: I’ve actively participated at PMCR for the past few years, including previously as an advisory board member, due to strong networking opportunities. I enjoy prospects of meeting a large number of professionals operating in the same space and the ability to bounce off ideas.

FTF takes time and works with industry participants to build a thoughtful agenda that is relevant to the audience and today’s market needs.

Q: What do you hope attendees walk away with after hearing your session?

A: I hope the attendees get a sense of the various data presentation traps that perhaps they were previously inadvertently unaware of and get some new ideas of effective performance presentation and communication.

Getting to Know You

Q: What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you?

A: Growing up I knew I was good at math but never had a clue as to what to do with that. After college, I bounced from one job to another until I found my way to a private equity consulting firm where, among other things, I dabbled in performance a bit. It wasn’t until I moved from California to Minnesota 10 years ago and took a job at Ameriprise that I realized performance was a thing, a whole industry with thousands of people around the world doing it full-time and getting money for it.

The fact that there is even a certificate (CIPM) dedicated to this field was mind-boggling to me at the time. Not sure how well this answers the posed question, but I guess the point is you just never know which way the life takes you and how you develop your passions.

Q: What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received (or would share)?

A: I don’t know if this is something I’ve necessarily been told or advised, but I would say staying curious and proactive are two qualities that are critical for anyone looking to build a successful career in any field.