An extended look into Jacobi’s journey, challenges, and future.
Q: Can you share your background and the story of how Jacobi was founded?
It is truly exciting to reflect on how far we’ve come – we’ve recently celebrated Jacobi’s 10th anniversary! Honestly, I hadn’t fully realised this milestone until we sat down to talk, and it’s incredible how quickly time has flown. The journey began when I, along with two co-founders, made the decision to build a technology solution that enables multi-asset investors to build and manage portfolios/models in a more efficient and scalable way. We all had extensive experience in the asset management and technology industry and a clear understanding of the challenges it faced – challenges that still persist today.
At the time, the market was dominated by single-point vendor solutions that catered to very specific needs. However, there was a noticeable lack of tools designed for multi-asset investors. This gap meant that scalability across the portfolio and model construction process was an ongoing issue, and the increased level of customization demanded by clients simply wasn’t being met. Additionally, the overreliance on Excel spreadsheets across the industry was a glaring inefficiency.
Jacobi was created with a vision to address these gaps. We designed and built new technology specifically for the multi-asset investor, focused on scalability, customisation, and integration across their portfolio construction processes. Our headquarters were established in San Francisco, a hub of innovation at the time, allowing us to tap into its dynamic ecosystem. We successfully raised capital to fuel our growth, and here we are a decade later – with a presence in the US, UK, and Australia, and team members deployed globally.
On a personal note, when I'm not focused on Jacobi, I'm a busy mother of two boys, a published author, and passionate advocate for women in STEM. I also take great joy in preserving my family’s Italian/Australian heritage through cooking.
Q: What challenges do multi-asset investment firms face today?
One of the biggest challenges facing investment firms is that multi-asset workflows are often constrained by disconnected systems and processes, and as a consequence often managed in excel spreadsheets and systems and processes that don’t talk to each other.
From portfolio analytics to front office operations and end-client communication, the lack of cohesive technology solutions often hampers efficiency and impacts investment decision making. With data becoming more abundant and AI and automation gaining traction, the demand for scalable, connected systems is higher than ever.
Q: How do firms use Jacobi to enhance their processes and better share their IP?
When we started Jacobi a decade ago, we observed a lack of end-to-end solutions for multi-asset investment workflows. Communication across the value chain was fragmented, making it inefficient for firms to collaborate across teams and share their unique IP. Jacobi’s platform enables firms to integrate proprietary investment models, code and data structures that support their distinctive portfolio construction and analytics.
With data proliferation, cloud technologies, and advancements in automation, investment firms need tools that can adapt to their specific needs. Jacobi provides this adaptability. We’ve always been mindful of leveraging APIs to enable seamless integration, ensuring that firms can scale efficiently while maintaining security and connectivity.
Q: What makes Jacobi’s technology unique?
Jacobi’s infrastructure is designed with flexibility and security in mind. Through private deployments, we have the ability to meet our clients constantly growing security and operational requirements as well as allowing our clients to incorporate their custom investment workflows and IP into the platform via their own SDK.
We also address the perennial challenge of "key person risk." By allowing clients to build and maintain their custom code on our platform, we minimise reliance on individual team members. This approach not only supports scalability but also integrates seamlessly with other systems. At its core, Jacobi puts our clients’ IP at the centre of everything, enabling them to stay competitive in a fast-evolving industry.
Q: How does Jacobi balance the "build vs. buy" debate for investment firms?
The "build vs. buy" dilemma isn’t as binary as it once seemed. Firms must consider both the cost of building proprietary solutions and the ongoing costs of maintaining them. Investment managers are, first and foremost, experts in managing investments –not technology. They need access to tools that enhance their work without diverting resources to tech development.
Jacobi offers a hybrid approach, allowing firms to "buy" the foundational infrastructure they lack while "building" on top of it to preserve their unique capabilities. This flexibility lets investment managers focus on what they do best – managing portfolios – while relying on Jacobi for scalable, secure, and adaptable technology solutions.
Q: What’s on the horizon for Jacobi in 2025?
AI is undoubtedly shaping the future, and is a focal point for us. We’ve been exploring its applications for years, particularly in areas where it can augment human expertise. For now, we see the opportunity with AI agents as an extension of investment teams, automating repetitive tasks and enhancing decision-making processes.
Looking ahead, we’re seeing tremendous growth opportunities, especially in asset management, the enterprise wealth management and OCIO (Outsourced Chief Investment Officer) spaces, globally. Model portfolio management is another area where there is strong demand. The journey hasn’t been without challenges, but 2024 has been a pivotal year, setting the stage for even greater innovation and impact in 2025.
The investment management industry is evolving rapidly, and Jacobi is well-positioned to lead this transformation. Let’s revisit this conversation in a year and see how far we’ve come, particularly with AI driving real-world results.
About the interviewee:
Tanya Bartolini, Co-Founder and CRO, Jacobi
Focused on enabling the investment management industry through technology, Tanya has broad experience across business development, technology and investments. Prior to co-founding Jacobi, Tanya held increasingly senior roles at Australia’s largest financial institution, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (including Colonial First State).
About Jacobi:
Jacobi streamlines multi-asset investment processes with a unique, customizable cloud-based platform for portfolio design, analysis, and engagement.
Jacobi’s next-generation private cloud infrastructure promotes open architecture and API connectivity. Investment firms can integrate their proprietary investment models, code and data structures that support their unique portfolio construction and engagement processes. Firms can build and analyze portfolios knowing that the output is configured to their unique data structures and processes. Jacobi is built for engagement, allowing firms to showcase their investment processes using interactive, white-labelled dashboards, apps and reports.
Founded in 2014, Jacobi provides its technology to top-tier global investment firms, including wealth managers, asset owners, asset managers and investment consultants.
