Ninepoint Partners: Automating fund fact sheet production with Pagination

Ninepoint Partners is a prominent Canadian asset management firm known for delivering innovative investment solutions. They focus on reducing portfolio risk by emphasizing diversification and steering away from traditional asset classes like stocks and bonds. 

With a deep expertise in managing diversified core, alternative income, and real asset strategies, Ninepoint has become a leader in Canada’s asset management industry. As an independent, employee-owned firm, Ninepoint manages over $7 billion in assets and serves both investment advisors and institutional clients.

The challenge: Addressing the evolving landscape of investor communication

As Ninepoint grew its range of investment funds and its client base, producing high-quality fund fact sheets became increasingly difficult. These fact sheets are essential for communicating key information about each fund to investors, including performance data, portfolio composition, and investment strategies. However, manually creating and updating them was time-consuming, prone to errors, and often inconsistent. 

This issue is not unique to Ninepoint; fund managers face growing pressure to deliver transparent, accessible, and engaging reports. Investors expect up-to-date and accurate information to make informed decisions. Traditional fund fact sheets, while necessary, are often slow to update and can be disconnected from the dynamic needs of modern investors.  

Furthermore, there is a growing need for a more dynamic and investor-centric approach in fund reporting. Traditional fund fact sheets can be slow to update and may not effectively engage modern investors. Fund managers need to ensure their sales channels have accurate and appealing materials to cater to their clientele. This requires a fundamental shift in how organizations create, manage, and deliver information to investors. 

Ninepoint realized that the manual approach was no longer viable. To meet investor demands and streamline communication, they needed an automated solution that could integrate with their existing data sources and workflows, helping them produce accurate, timely, and consistent reports.  

In addition to fact sheets, the firm also faced challenges with its performance presentation slides. These decks required frequent updates of comparative charts and tables, and preparing them manually in PowerPoint for hundreds of funds had become equally time-consuming and difficult to scale.

Pagination’s Solution: A tailored approach to fund fact sheet automation

Ninepoint turned to Pagination for a solution that could transform their fund fact sheet automation process. Pagination, with its expertise in data integration and document automation, provided a customized approach that addressed Ninepoint’s unique needs.  

Working closely with Ninepoint, Pagination developed a customized solution that leveraged Ninepoint’s existing data sources and workflows. This ensured a seamless transition to an automated process and minimized disruption to their operations.

Key features of Pagination’s fund fact sheet software included:

Modular data management

Initially, Ninepoint considered using a custom value import system, but they quickly realized that while their data files were relatively consistent, they weren’t uniform enough for this method to be effective.

Any updates to the Excel file would require manual remapping in InDesign, making the process both inefficient and prone to errors. Instead of relying on a single Excel file, Pagination’s solution enabled Ninepoint to manage data from multiple sources. Ninepoint organized their data across different tabs within an Excel file, with each tab containing a distinct type of information—such as fund details, performance data, and portfolio composition—making it easier to maintain and update.

Dynamic layout engine

Ninepoint faced the challenge of fitting all necessary information onto a single page, even when dealing with varying amounts of data. To solve this, Pagination created a custom scripting solution that automatically optimized the use of space.

This approach was different from our usual method, which focuses primarily on balancing white space. In this case, the challenge was greater due to the inclusion of diverse elements like tables and graphs, which added complexity to the space management process compared to working with simple text. Our script first focuses on minimizing white space between elements, then adjusts font sizes and cell padding as necessary.

The ultimate goal was to ensure all content fit within a predefined space while keeping the layout clean, visually appealing, and easy to read. This type of dynamic layout adjustment, driven by content length, was a first for Pagination and highlights our commitment to crafting innovative, customized solutions that meet the unique needs of our clients.

Automated graph generation

Pagination’s fund fact sheet software automated the creation of line graphs, a key component of Ninepoint’s fund fact sheets. By pulling data directly from Ninepoint’s sources, the system generated graphs automatically, eliminating the manual work previously required and ensuring consistency across all reports. This time-saving feature also allowed Ninepoint to ensure that each graph was accurately updated in real time, providing investors with the most current data available.

Integration with static content

Ninepoint’s fact sheets included static pages designed in InDesign, such as cover and end pages. Pagination’s solution seamlessly integrated these static elements with the dynamic, automated content. This integration ensured that the final fund fact sheet appeared cohesive and polished, with no need for manual adjustments or inconsistent formatting. Whether it was the static cover page or the dynamically generated performance tables, the entire document maintained a professional, unified design.   

After the implementation of the first project, Ninepoint chose to extend the collaboration with Pagination. They recognized that the same efficiency and reliability could also be applied to other financial documents, such as performance presentation slides.

Performance presentations: the next step in Ninepoint’s automation journey

After successfully automating fund fact sheets, Ninepoint partnered with Pagination on another project: automating performance presentation slides.

These PowerPoint presentations are used in investor communications and play an important role in delivering timely and accurate information. Each deck contains a key page with comparative data, tables and graphs that must be updated monthly.

While the rest of the document changes less frequently, ensuring that this single page remained accurate and consistent across hundreds of funds required considerable effort.

To make the process more efficient, Ninepoint again saw automation as the ideal solution. By focusing just on the page of the document requiring regular updates, Pagination streamlined the production process while maintaining the design of the overall presentation:

From PowerPoint to automation speed

Previously, these slides were created manually in PowerPoint, which was time-consuming given the number of funds. 

To address this challenge, Pagination created an InDesign template that mirrors the layout of Ninepoint’s presentations while enabling full automation. This change reduced the time spent on repetitive tasks and introduced a faster and scalable way to update performance data.

Monthly performance slides with dynamic data

The layout includes visual and tabular data for comparing investment funds. The automated output contains a cumulative return line chart, a statistical analysis table and a compound returns table. All of these are updated directly from the source file. This ensures investors always have access to the most recent, accurate information.

Structured data management in Excel

Ninepoint provides a single Excel file containing multiple tabs with fund performance data. From this master file, funds are paired according to client specifications, allowing for flexible comparative analysis. In this way, the structured workflow guarantees that information is always current and presented correctly, without the need for repetitive manual adjustments.

Multiple outputs in one workflow

Although the input is centralized in one dataset, Pagination generates a zip folder containing all separate PDFs, with each file corresponding to a specific comparative slide. These PDFs can then be easily integrated into the broader investor presentation, ensuring both modularity and speed.

Ninepoint’s decision to expand automation from fund fact sheets to performance presentations highlights how Pagination adapts to different types of financial documents. 

The result is a flexible solution that meets specific requirements, increases efficiency, and delivers investor-ready outputs every month. 

Results and benefits of fund fact sheet automation

By implementing Pagination’s fund fact sheet software, Ninepoint Partners achieved significant improvements in efficiency, accuracy, and scalability.

• Increased efficiency and productivity: Automating key steps in the fund fact sheet creation process—ranging from data management to layout adjustments—saved Ninepoint countless hours. What once took weeks of manual effort can now be completed in just hours. This shift allowed the team to focus on strategic initiatives such as market analysis and developing new investment strategies. As Faiz Abidi, Digital Marketing Manager at Ninepoint Partners, notes:

“What used to take weeks now takes hours. Switching to Pagination improved our workflow. It’s seamless, reliable, and lets us focus on strategy rather than manual tasks.”

• Enhanced customization and scalability: As Ninepoint’s fund offerings and client base expanded, Pagination’s solution provided the scalability required to accommodate new funds, evolving data needs, and complex reporting requirements—all without major system changes. This ensured that Ninepoint could adapt seamlessly to growth and regulatory changes.

 

• Consistency and accuracy: Pagination’s dynamic layout engine and automated graph generation guaranteed consistent, error-free fact sheets. By eliminating manual data entry, the platform significantly reduced the risk of errors, ensuring that every report was accurate and up-to-date. Timothy Somerville, Vice President of Digital Marketing at Ninepoint Partners, shares:

“Pagination has been a game-changer for our team. Automating fact sheets has freed up countless hours and guaranteed precision. Connecting our data sources to Pagination was smooth, the platform is incredibly user-friendly, and the support team has been outstanding.”

• Future-proofing for a competitive edge: Ultimately, Pagination’s solution transformed Ninepoint’s fund fact sheet production process, giving the firm the tools it needed to enhance client communication, increase operational efficiency, and stay ahead of the curve in a competitive and rapidly changing financial landscape.

Additionally, with the automation of performance presentation slides, Ninepoint unlocked new benefits that further strengthened its investor communications:

• Faster updates for performance reports: automating the monthly update of comparative charts and tables turned a repetitive manual task into a streamlined process. Reports that once required hours of adjustments in PowerPoint are now generated automatically. 
• Easier investor communication: with slides always aligned to the latest data, Ninepoint’s teams can deliver presentations that are both reliable and professional, making communication smoother across all channels.

The power of automation in asset management

Ninepoint’s success underscores the transformative potential of automation in asset management. By automating both fund fact sheets and performance presentation reports, firms can boost efficiency, improve accuracy, and scale their operations, ultimately enhancing client communication and driving business growth.

Why choose Pagination for fund fact sheet and performance report automation?

Pagination’s fund fact sheet software stands out from the competition due to its:

• Comprehensive, integrated approach: A complete solution for data integration, automation, design, and distribution within a single platform, eliminating the need for multiple disconnected systems.
• Unmatched reliability and security: A robust infrastructure ensures secure, compliant, and reliable reporting processes.
• Adaptability and future-proof design: Support for personalized reporting, multi-channel distribution, and dynamic data visualization, keeping firms ahead of industry trends.
• Exceptional client support: More than just software, Pagination offers long-term partnerships, personalized onboarding, and ongoing consultation for sustained success.

If you’re looking for a streamlined, scalable solution for fund fact sheets, performance reports or other financial documents, Pagination provides a powerful, flexible platform tailored to your needs.

Ready to transform your reporting process? Contact Pagination today for a free consultation or visit our website to learn more.