Company: Calamos Wealth Management

Breaking Through Operational Bottlenecks To Expand Alternatives Access

As a subsidiary of Calamos Investments, a global investment firm that prides itself on innovation, risk management, and client focus, building blocks that John P. Calamos Sr. pioneered during the challenging markets of the 1970s, Calamos Wealth Management understood the importance of navigating an evolving investment landscape. However, as client demand for alternatives increased, the firm faced a set of new operational hurdles that made continued growth difficult.

Manual post-trade workflows, a hard cap on the number of alternative investment tickets processed per month, and disparate data systems were limiting the firm's ability to scale. “We were artificially constrained in how many alts allocations we could process each month,” explained Dimitar Tanchev, who oversees operations for Calamos Wealth Management. “That was increasingly at odds with advisor and client demand.”

Calamos Wealth Management needed a partner that could help modernize its infrastructure, reduce processing burdens, and elevate the advisor experience, all without compromising on its standards or operational control.

A Customized Platform Built for Scale, Simplicity, and Control

After a comprehensive evaluation process, Calamos Wealth Management selected CAIS as its alternative investments platform. Working closely with CAIS’ platform delivery and relationship teams, Calamos launched a fully white-labeled version of the platform, complete with single sign-on functionality (SSO), curated investment menus selected by its Investment Committee, and direct reporting integrations with its reporting provider, Black Diamond.

One of the most immediate operational wins came in streamlining the documentation lifecycle. By digitizing subscription documents through the CAIS platform, Calamos Wealth Management reduced the number of steps required to complete each transaction and quickly increased monthly processing by 50%, driving greater efficiency.

Through improvements in client profile workflows and investment eligibility tools, Calamos Wealth Management advisors can now allocate across a wider range of clients, allowing them to grow their practice, while ensuring compliance with eligibility requirements. Internal roles and permissions were also defined to provide secure, role-specific platform access across teams.

“Partnering with CAIS enabled us to increase our alternatives throughput without adding strain to our operations team,” said Joe Weidenbach, Head of Wealth Management. “The platform has become an extension of how we work—integrated, flexible, and aligned with our long-term vision.”

Expanding a Scalable Foundation for Firmwide Growth

With a robust infrastructure in place, Calamos Wealth Management is planning to further expand its usage of the CAIS platform new capabilities such as the CAIS models marketplace and centralized post-trade analytics.

As the firm continues its growth journey, it remains focused on building scalable, tech-enabled systems that support personalized advisor engagement and a high-integrity client experience.

“The CAIS team understands how we think about growth,” said Jon Adams, CIO at Calamos. “They’ve helped us modernize our infrastructure while preserving the high standards Calamos has stood for over decades.”