Should you maintain your own share register or outsource it?

A Decision-Making Guide for Swiss Companies

Who maintains the share register if the person in charge is unavailable? How much time do inquiries, data maintenance, and audits actually take? And does the current solution still align with the company’s growth?

Whether a share register is maintained in-house or outsourced to a specialized service provider is an organizational and economic decision. The key factors are the available expertise, staffing resources, and the overall operating costs.

Self-Management: Expertise and Processes Within Your Own Company

In the case of in-house management, the internal team processes business transactions and maintains shareholder data. This can be a good option if qualified employees are available and maintaining the register is well integrated into their other duties.

In this context, the technical management of the share register can be separated from its day-to-day operations. A company can maintain its own share register using externally operated software. In such a cloud-based model, the provider handles the agreed-upon platform operations, while the day-to-day management of the register remains with the company.

The advantages of this approach include short internal approval processes and direct access to in-house expertise. However, this requires that sufficient time be consistently allocated for this purpose. Software supports the processing of these tasks; however, the assessment of unusual cases and the organization of controls still require qualified personnel.

The question of representation is therefore particularly revealing: Can a second person reliably maintain the registry in the event of vacation, illness, or a change in position?

Outsourcing: Delegating Operational Tasks to Specialists

In outsourcing, an external partner takes over the agreed-upon tasks related to share register maintenance. The specific services included should be clearly defined, such as processing registrations and deregistrations, shareholder correspondence, or certain reports.

This model is particularly suitable when there is limited internal capacity, the necessary expertise resides with a single person, or the company does not wish to establish its own specialized function.

The extent to which the internal team’s workload is reduced depends on the scope of services and the level of collaboration. Even when outsourcing, there needs to be an internal point of contact, clear decision-making processes, and established approval procedures for matters that the service provider submits to the company.

Before signing a contract, it’s therefore worth taking a close look at how the partnership will work: Who handles which inquiries? Which cases are escalated? What are the processing deadlines? And how does the company gain insight into open cases?

Which option is right for your business?

Expertise and Staffing Capacity

In-house management is a good option when experienced employees can take on the responsibility of maintaining the registry on a long-term basis and a trained deputy is available. If the necessary expertise must first be developed, or if the work is heavily dependent on a single person, a specialized partner can help ensure adequate staffing.

Capacity and Collaboration

The key factor is whether there is sufficient time in the day-to-day work routine for ongoing processing and the necessary checks. If these tasks are firmly scheduled and internal coordination is working well, that speaks in favor of handling them in-house. If maintaining the registry regularly competes with other priorities, it is worth considering outsourcing. Clear responsibilities and reliable handoffs to the partner are prerequisites for offloading this workload.

Cost-Effectiveness and Actual Needs

Compare which model provides the services you need at an appropriate level of quality and at a competitive total cost. If you manage the process in-house, this includes software, staff, and backup personnel. If you outsource, consider the agreed-upon service package and the remaining internal effort.

The number of shareholders alone is not sufficient to make a decision. For your comparison, you should also take into account the number of business transactions, their complexity, and the volume of correspondence. A largely stable registry places different demands on the team than one with frequent changes and many follow-up inquiries.

Comparing Costs: What Should Be Included in the Bill?

To ensure a meaningful comparison, both models should cover the same scope of services.

When managing the process in-house, the calculation should include not only software costs but also the time spent on processing and checks, training, staff cover, and internal IT services. When outsourcing, in addition to the base price, potential variable fees, special services, and the remaining internal coordination efforts must be taken into account.

In particular, check what quantities are included in a quote and which services are billed separately. Setup, data migration, and a subsequent data handover should also be included in the comparison.

A useful basis for this is a full-cost analysis covering several years. It reveals whether a price advantage remains even when one-time expenses and actual personnel costs are factored in. There is no model that is cheaper across the board.

Clarify Data Protection and Access in the Contract

Anyone who has personal data processed by a data processor remains responsible for data protection. The EDÖB expressly points out that clients must carefully select, instruct, and, where necessary, supervise their partners. This also applies to the use of cloud services. Source: EDÖB on data processing by contractors

Therefore, for both models, clarify where data is processed, who has access to it, and what security measures are in place. Also, agree on how data will be transferred in its entirety and in a usable format in the event of a change in service provider. This way, you’ll ensure that your company’s long-term operational flexibility is taken into account right from the selection process.

Two models featuring Devigus

Devigus offers both options: You can outsource the day-to-day management of your share register to our team or manage your register yourself using AREGIS as a cloud service. With the cloud model, Devigus handles the operation, hosting, and ongoing updates of the platform. The data is hosted in redundant data centers in Switzerland. Learn more about share register management with Devigus

Would you like to see which model is the best fit for your company? Together, we’ll review your processes, internal workload, and desired scope of services. Based on this, you’ll receive a quote that you can compare with your current solution.

Please contact us for a no-obligation discussion.

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