Article by Nuno Dias - IAS Processing Manager

Welcome to another edition of Walking in Our Legal Team Shoes, where we share a closer look at the people and teams behind the work we do every day at IAS.

This time, we step a little outside the traditional legal desk and into the world of Processing and Operations. It is a world where priorities change quickly, different teams need to move together, and a simple “quick question” can sometimes open the door to a full operational discussion.

Morning: Coffee, Cats and Priorities

My day usually starts at 7:00 AM with breakfast at home and making sure my cats are taken care of. Before emails, meetings or any operational escalation, the cats come first. They are very demanding stakeholders and they do not accept delays.

Once the workday starts, I begin by reviewing emails, checking priorities, and identifying anything that may block the teams or require immediate attention. In Processing, a missing document, an unclear next step or a delayed answer can quickly affect the wider process, so the morning is about getting a clear picture of what needs to move.

I also look at investor processes that may need a little more attention. Sometimes this means following up on a specific case. Other times it means helping a team remove an obstacle before it becomes a bigger issue.

Shortly after that, I connect with the teams to understand what is happening across the department. This includes Backoffice, Frontoffice, Billing, IAS Financial Services, Paralegal and Onboarding. Each area has its own priorities and rhythm, but the work is always connected.

That is why I like to bring people into the conversation early. A challenge may start in one area, but the solution is often found when different teams look at it together. It is not only about solving problems inside each team. It is also about helping teams understand how their work affects each other and how we can improve the process as a department.

Midday: Connecting People, Teams and Time Zones

By midday, most teams are in the office and other departments and business areas are usually more in sync across different time zones. This is often the best moment to bring people together, exchange feedback and tackle the more complex topics that need input from several sides.

A question in Onboarding may have an impact on Paralegal. A Billing topic may affect client communication. A Backoffice process may depend on Frontoffice information. IAS Financial Services may add a financial or operational angle. Legal may need a process to be adjusted. Finance may need clarification before moving ahead. Sales Offices may need quick and accurate updates to manage expectations. IT Hosting may be needed when systems or access become part of the issue. Suppliers can also play an important role when external dependencies affect the client journey.

And in the middle of all of this, the most important stakeholder is always the investor.

That is why these midday conversations are so important. They are not just internal check-ins. They are moments where different teams, departments, business areas and stakeholders can align around the same goal: finding practical solutions and improving the service delivered to the client.

My role is often to connect the dots. To listen, challenge, simplify where possible and make sure that everyone understands not only their part of the process, but also how that part fits into the wider journey.

Some of the best improvements do not start with a big project or a new system. Sometimes they start with a simple conversation between teams that normally see the same process from different angles. And then someone says, “Actually, if we change this one step, it may solve the issue for everyone.”

Those are usually the best moments.

Afternoon: Preparing for What Comes Next

Afternoons are often focused on the work that is less visible but just as important. Reviewing priorities, preparing teams for upcoming challenges, improving workflows and making sure we continue to deliver a high level of service as quickly and accurately as possible.

In our work, speed matters. But speed alone is not enough.

Accuracy matters. Consistency matters. Clear communication matters. And when the client needs, legal requirements, payments, documentation, onboarding steps, internal systems and external dependencies are all moving at the same time, structure becomes essential.

A big part of my role is making sure the teams have the information, tools and confidence they need to move forward. That can mean helping release blockers, reviewing how different areas interact, improving internal processes or working on new solutions that allow us to respond better to client and investor needs.

Processing and Operations are often behind the scenes. When everything works well, it may look simple from the outside. Usually, that means a lot of coordination happened quietly in the background.

And preferably before anyone needed to escalate it.

End of Day: Resetting at the Gym

After a day of emails, decisions, discussions and operational puzzles, my usual way to disconnect is going to the gym.

It helps me reset, clear my head and create a proper break between work and personal time. Also, after spending the day trying to align people, systems, priorities and processes, lifting weights can feel surprisingly simple.

The weight either moves or it does not. No workflow mapping needed.

What Makes This Role Special

What makes this role special is the opportunity to bring teams together through process.

For me, Processing is not only about managing tasks or making sure documents move from one stage to another. It is about creating alignment between people, departments, systems, stakeholders and client needs. It is about taking complexity and turning it into something structured, manageable and scalable.

Managing areas such as Backoffice, Frontoffice, Billing, IAS Financial Services, Paralegal and Onboarding means working every day with different perspectives. Each team sees a different part of the investor journey and each one plays an important role in making the overall experience work.

At the same time, the role requires constant alignment with other stakeholders, including Sales Offices, Finance, Legal, IT Hosting, suppliers, partners and others. A strong client experience does not depend on one team doing its part well. It depends on everyone understanding how their part connects to the bigger picture.

What motivates me most is being able to connect those perspectives, build better ways of working and help teams come together around practical solutions. Whether we are improving an existing process, supporting a complex case or developing new products and services, the goal is always the same: to respond better to investor needs while keeping quality, speed and consistency at the centre of what we do.

At the end of the day, walking in our legal team’s shoes from an operations perspective means making sure that what is legally required can also be delivered in practice. Clearly, efficiently and with the investor experience in mind.

And if we can do that with good teamwork, a bit of humor and the cats properly fed before 9:00 AM, then I would say the day started well.