How Climate Asset Management Built a Connected Investment Platform with Dynamics 365

Climate Asset Management worked with HappyWired to introduce Dynamics 365 as part of a wider Microsoft-based platform, helping connect investor relationships, opportunity pipelines, investment activity and asset information in one more joined-up operating model.

Context

Climate Asset Management is a specialist asset manager focused on natural capital and carbon markets. Formed in 2020 as a joint venture between HSBC Asset Management and Pollination, the business was created with the ambition to grow the world’s leading asset management company in natural capital.

The business operates across two main strategies: acquiring natural capital assets through an investment process, and working with landowners and project owners to generate carbon credits through activities such as reforestation and sustainable land management.

As a relatively young organisation operating in a developing asset class, Climate Asset Management needed technology that could support growth without creating unnecessary complexity. The goal was not to build a heavily customised system, but to create a simple, secure and supportable architecture that could evolve with the business.

Dominic Diggins, Director of IT at Climate Asset Management, described the technology strategy as being built around simplicity, supportability and interoperability. As a Microsoft-first organisation, Climate Asset Management wanted to make better use of the Microsoft platform it already relied on, rather than introduce disconnected specialist systems too early.

“Our technology strategy is really simplicity, supportability and interoperability — and you get all of those things with Microsoft.” — Dominic Diggins, Director of IT at Climate Asset Management

The Problem

Climate Asset Management’s work creates information across several connected areas: investors, funds, opportunities, investment committees, assets, documents and performance evidence.

That information needs to move through the business in a way that is clear, auditable and useful. A potential asset might begin in origination, move through stages of due diligence and investment committee approval, and then become part of the asset management process. The same information may later be needed by the investor relations team to explain the strength of the pipeline, the nature of current investments and the performance of assets under management.

Without a connected platform, this type of operating model can quickly become fragmented. Information ends up spread across spreadsheets, documents, email trails and separate systems. That makes it harder for teams to understand the full picture, harder to reuse information, and harder to build confidence in the data that supports decision-making.

Climate Asset Management was also building new processes as the business developed. This was not a simple replacement of an existing mature system. The platform needed to support processes that were still being shaped, tested and improved.

“This wasn’t about replacing an existing system. It was a brand new system that had to align with evolving processes we were developing in-house.”

The Insight

The right approach was not to over-engineer the solution.

For Climate Asset Management, the priority was to create a practical platform that could bring key business information together while staying close to Microsoft’s standard capability. Configuration was preferred over customisation because it kept the system easier to maintain, easier to support and easier to scale.

“We didn’t want to customise. We wanted to configure, because that keeps it simple, easy to maintain and easy to scale.”

HappyWired was introduced as a Microsoft partner that could help develop digital tools, enable efficient workflows and improve the movement of data across the business. The fit mattered because Climate Asset Management had a small internal technology function and needed more than a supplier. It needed a partner that could advise, challenge, deliver and adapt as the scope became clearer.

Dominic described the requirement as finding a partner that was small enough to be agile and flexible, but large enough to guide the business through strategic decisions.

“We needed to find a partner that was small enough to be agile and flexible, but large enough to guide us through strategic decisions.”

A Better Approach

HappyWired worked with Climate Asset Management to introduce Dynamics 365 as a central platform layer alongside the organisation’s existing Microsoft architecture.

The aim was to support a circular flow of information across the business, with the ultimate goal of providing a single view of the Asset. Opportunities and potential assets could be tracked through origination and investment stages. As those opportunities developed, the information and documentation created through the process could then support asset management, investor relations and wider reporting activity.

“It all makes sense as a circular flow of information: from potential assets, through origination and investment stages, into asset management and investor relations.”

This created a more holistic view across the organisation. The platform connected several important areas of the business:

• investor relationships
• fund and investment information
• opportunity and deal pipelines
• investment committee stages
• asset records and supporting documentation
• defensible audit trails of decision making
• due diligence records and investment committee decisions
• digital signatures at specific process points
• information needed by investor relations teams

Rather than treating each of these areas as separate technology problems, the work focused on how information flows through the business in practice.

Making the Platform Fit the Business

A key part of the engagement was the way the scope developed.

Climate Asset Management was not asking HappyWired to copy an existing process into a new system. The business was still developing new ways of working, which meant the platform needed to be shaped through discussion, discovery and iteration.

That required a collaborative delivery model. HappyWired worked with the Climate Asset Management team to discuss scope, understand limitations, test ideas and refine the solution as the business learned more about what it needed.

“With the technology team effectively being limited to just myself, it was very important that we had somebody who could be a supplier, advisor and delivery partner.”

This mattered because the platform was not just a technical implementation. It was part of a broader move towards being more technology-first and data-first as an organisation.

Supporting a Data-First Operating Model

The Dynamics 365 platform helped Climate Asset Management move towards a more connected data model.

Instead of searching across disparate systems and spreadsheets to understand investors, fund vehicles, investments and associated assets, the business could begin to bring that information into a more coherent structure.

That structure is important for an asset manager operating in a specialist and developing market. Information captured during origination does not lose value once an investment decision has been made. It becomes part of the evidence base for asset management, investor communication and future decision-making.

By keeping that information in one platform, Climate Asset Management improved visibility across the lifecycle of its work.

“The same information can move from origination into asset management and then support investor relations. Having that in one place is really important.”

Why Microsoft Was the Right Foundation

Climate Asset Management was already a Microsoft-first organisation. That influenced the platform strategy.

Microsoft provided a familiar, secure and integrated foundation across Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, SharePoint, Azure and Copilot. This allowed the business to keep the architecture simple while still supporting operational complexity.

For a small to medium-sized organisation, this was an important design choice. The business did not need to look far beyond the Microsoft suite to create a platform that could support workflow, collaboration, data, security and AI adoption.

The decision to configure rather than heavily customise also supported the long-term operating model. It made the platform easier to maintain and gave the internal technology team a clearer route for managing future change.

The Outcome

The result was a more connected Microsoft-based platform for managing key investment and investor information.

Climate Asset Management gained a clearer way to track opportunities through origination and investment stages, connect supporting information and make that information available to the teams that need it later in the lifecycle.

The platform helped support:

• clearer visibility of investment opportunities
• better connection between deal activity and asset management
• improved access to information for investor relations
• a more auditable trail of decisions and documentation
• a simpler and more supportable Microsoft-based architecture
• a stronger foundation for data-first and AI-enabled working

The work also helped establish HappyWired as an ongoing Microsoft partner, not just a delivery supplier. The relationship later extended into Microsoft licensing advisory, where HappyWired helped Climate Asset Management improve visibility, control and value across its Microsoft licensing footprint.

“It’s not just about configuring a product to help a workflow. This is support for our ongoing BAU across the Microsoft platform.”

The Practical Difference

The value of the project was not just in the technology deployed. It was in creating a platform that matched how Climate Asset Management needed to work.

For a business operating in a new and evolving asset class, the system needed to support change rather than constrain it. It needed to connect teams without creating unnecessary complexity. It needed to provide structure without forcing the business into rigid processes before those processes had matured.

That is where the Microsoft platform, Dynamics 365 and HappyWired’s delivery approach came together.

The result was a platform that helped Climate Asset Management organise critical business information around the way investment activity actually moves through the organisation.

Summary

Climate Asset Management needed more than a CRM or a standalone investment tracking system. It needed a connected platform that could support investor relationships, opportunity pipelines, investment activity, asset information and reporting across an evolving business.

HappyWired helped introduce Dynamics 365 as part of a wider Microsoft architecture, creating a more joined-up platform that supports visibility, control and better use of data across the organisation.

The project shows the value of taking a practical Microsoft-first approach: configure where possible, connect information properly, and build systems that support how the business actually works.