As part of a project to improve the efficiency of Texas ERS' investment management process, the Eagle solution was selected to support the unitization of the plans assets.

"We had an aggressive delivery date of less than 4 ½ months to successfully replace our legacy accounting system. Eagle's breadth of implementation experience, particularly in the public sector, combined with their leading technology and ability to deliver its solution on an ASP model, made Eagle the provider of choice," said Kurt Lehmann, chief technology officer of Texas ERS. "Eagle is helping us improve our operational efficiency significantly by delivering an automated conduit to help us control and reconcile our portfolio accounts in a straight-through processing environment."

Eagle replaced the Portia accounting system to help Texas ERS meet new investment guidelines and support a unitized pool for the trust. The Eagle Plan Investment Accounting and Custody Interface (EPIC) project helped to achieve three strategic goals for Texas ERS, including:

• Moving from a monthly valuation to daily valuation and fund unitization
• Appointment of the Custodian as Trustee and official books and records of ERS
• Implementation of a new full general ledger, trade date, multi-currency accounting system, and associated automated file transfers.

EPIC delivers increased accountability and better control of Texas ERS' investments with a faster, more efficient reporting system, and the added benefit of daily net asset valuation. Lehmann said the program gives the Texas ERS staff and Board of Trustees the state-of-the-art tools they need to manage the growing demands on the Texas ERS trust, now and in the future.

"This is one of the first instances of a major public fund unitizing its pools and demonstrating the capabilities of Eagle's accounting platform, with its integrated realtime ledger to operate in a daily processing environment," said John Lehner, Eagle president. "Texas ERS joins Eagle's growing list of public fund, plan sponsor, and endowment clients such as Florida State Board of Administration, Oregon State Treasury, Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union Pension Trust, Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board. Their mandate is also an important addition to the client base for Eagle Access, our expanding hosting business."