The treasury, risk, and portfolio management market is on track to hit $10.8 billion by 2030. With that growth comes pressure to move faster, stay compliant, and deliver real-time insights.

For financial services providers like DLM Finance, that pressure isn’t a challenge, but an opening.

Since 2007, DLM has been on a mission to make development finance an investable asset class. That means giving fund managers in emerging markets the kind of tools and systems typically reserved for Wall Street: modern, cloud-native, and built to scale.

DLM adopted Mendix as their dedicated low-code platform in 2013. What began as a way to solve one regulatory hurdle quickly evolved into something bigger. The managed portfolio of $0.5 billion has grown into more than $25 billion in assets.

Trade Manager, once a single-purpose compliance tool, is now a modular, enterprise-grade platform powering governance, security, and client innovation without sacrificing agility.

From Legacy Constraints to Agile Innovation

Keeping pace with a rapidly evolving market meant letting go of legacy constraints. Where once commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) systems were “good enough,” DLM Finance quickly realized they wouldn’t cut it in a space demanding speed, flexibility, and precision.

“That generic offering wasn’t built for our user group, so the challenges were constant,” shared Tijmen Verwoert, a lead solutions developer at DLM.

In an industry where compliance requirements shift quickly, and clients expect systems tailored to their reality, being stuck in someone else’s product roadmap was no longer viable.

“One major drawback of off-the-shelf systems is the lack of control,” shared CEO Diederik de Leur. “Any change required a formal request to the provider, which was time-consuming and had to fit into their roadmap.”

As part of their modernization strategy, DLM evaluated several platforms, including OutSystems and Power Apps. Mendix stood out not just for technical capabilities, but for how well it aligned with DLM’s way of working. The deciding factors included:

• A cohesive ecosystem
• Lower maintenance overhead
• Visual development via microflows
• The ability to quickly turn deep client knowledge into scalable solutions

“If we had built it ourselves, we’d be responsible for ongoing maintenance, AI integration, and hosting infrastructure.”

Integration was non-negotiable. DLM needed to connect with regulators, supervisory tools, and internal systems seamlessly and securely. Mendix delivered.

“Even now, we continue to benefit from Mendix’s ease of integrating and sharing data across systems,” Verwoert said. “Interfacing is where Mendix truly excels for us.”

DLM’s first Mendix build—a regulatory reporting solution—validated the platform’s potential. That early success planted the seed for something bigger. By adopting a Mendix-first strategy, DLM reimagined its entire ecosystem from the ground up.

From Compliance to Client Empowerment

Trade Manager has come a long way from its early days as a compliance tool. Today, it’s a modular, multi-application platform shaped by continuous deployment, real-time feedback, and direct client input.

Earlier versions focused on getting the basics right: stability, faster testing, and a stronger foundation for meeting ISAE 3402 Type II certification standards. But as client needs grew more complex, so did the platform.

“Since starting with Mendix in 2013, we’ve evolved through multiple Trade Manager versions and now have a modern, robust platform that is custom-built for our niche,” Verwoert said.

Some of the biggest breakthroughs came with Version 4, which reengineered the way Trade Manager handled millions of daily cash flow data points—boosting both accuracy and performance. That release also marked a turning point: the shift from a single monolithic app to a distributed, microservices architecture.

“This foundation allowed us to create customer-specific applications alongside the main system,” explained Frank Nijssen, Chief Customer Officer. “Unlike traditional multi-tenant apps where all users share the same functionality, this flexible architecture lets us deliver generic components while customizing look, feel, and features for individual clients.”

With this evolution came a shift in focus from functionality to experience, and from compliance to client empowerment.

In 2024, DLM made a concerted effort to communicate Trade Manager’s value beyond features. Conversations now center on reliability, scalability, and infrastructure, key factors for fund managers handling capital in regulated, high-stakes environments.

“Now we highlight key aspects like availability, certifications, ROI, data centers in Dublin and Frankfurt, and managed backups,” Verwoert highlighted. “This is critical for fund managers investing in impact because business continuity and security are essential when large amounts of capital are involved.”

That same clarity carries through to the user experience. Version 5 introduced an enhanced dashboard that surfaces key portfolio insights—growth, overdue payments, essential metrics—right at login.

This design philosophy flips the traditional top-down software model. What was once a compliance-driven mandate is now a bottom-up, user-led experience.

“This aligns with our focus this year on making decision-making as seamless and intuitive as possible for our clients,” he said.

Version 5 of Trade Manager has resulted in a 50 to 70 percent increase in customer efficiency, as clients benefit from streamlined workflows and faster access to critical portfolio data.

Behind the scenes, legacy system connections help smooth client migrations by feeding data directly into Trade Manager to minimize disruption and accelerate adoption.

Trade Manager isn’t the only product evolving. DLM’s broader portfolio includes internal tools like a planning board app to streamline operations, and customer-facing services powered by APIs, and solutions hosted on the Mendix Public Cloud. Each is designed with the same principles of agility, security, and tailored performance.

Deployment practices have matured, as well. Where DLM once released updates multiple times a day without clear structure, they now follow a monthly versioning cycle supported by ongoing minor fixes.

“This move from unstructured to structured deployment has improved stability and predictability,” de Leur shared.

However, the end goal isn’t just stability, but value.

Ensuring Security and Stability with Mendix

As regulatory frameworks evolve, particularly in light of the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), security and stability are no longer just IT concerns. They’re business-critical.

For DLM, these expectations aren’t just being met, but exceeded, thanks to their long-standing collaboration with Mendix and AWS.

“Thanks to Mendix and AWS, critical features like backups, high availability, and threat prevention were already in place, though now they’re more visible and explicitly valued,” Nijssen highlighted.

This foundation has allowed DLM to prioritize flexibility without compromising control. Their platform follows a modular design, yet remains single-tenant, giving each client their own secure environment, while still enabling tailored feature rollouts.

“Ultimately, adoption decisions rest with clients, but we support them by providing demos and guidance that is flexible,” said Leon Meppelink, CTO.

Security isn’t just built in. It’s continuously validated, aligned with modern cloud practices, and deeply integrated into the development lifecycle. The result is a stable, trusted platform where clients can innovate confidently, knowing the foundations are secure.

Fostering a Development Culture at Scale

DLM’s evolution is also focused on building a smarter, stronger development culture to support it at scale.

To maintain quality and consistency, DLM has put a robust governance framework in place, including:

• Menditect Test Automation (MTA) to validate code-level logic rather than just UI
• A single live version policy to reduce complexity and improve maintainability

“MTA tests the code itself and works seamlessly with microflows, making it intuitive for Mendix developers,” Verwoert said.

But structure alone isn’t enough. DLM is equally invested in cultivating talent and continuous learning. Every new developer starts with Mendix’s rapid development course, followed by a clear certification path from intermediate to advanced within two years.

“We’ve been in the Mendix world for a long time,” Verwoert said. “So, we’ve built a strong onboarding and learning path that gives developers the right foundation and we expect them to keep growing.”

Regular internal roadmap reviews and feedback sessions ensure business and IT remain tightly aligned. Mendix isn’t just a tool. It’s embedded in DLM’s strategic planning.

And now, they’re looking to artificial intelligence (AI) to supercharge both development speed and client impact.

With Mendix’s AI assistant, Maia, developers at all levels are finding new efficiencies. “Our intern relies on Maia to quickly get Mendix guidance, which senior developers then review. Even our lead developer uses Maia to validate ideas. It’s become an essential support tool,” Verwoert explained.

The vision doesn’t stop at developer productivity. DLM is actively exploring how embedded AI agents can assist clients directly with portfolio analysis, reporting, and faster decision-making.

At DLM, innovation is as much about how you build as what you build. Today, the team is set up to deliver both.

A Proven Path to Future-Ready Financial Solutions

In a traditionally risk-averse and highly regulated industry, DLM has found its edge—not by avoiding complexity, but by embracing the right tools to manage it. Mendix has become a strategic differentiator, helping DLM turn what was once seen as a risk into a clear competitive advantage.

“Ten years ago, building your own system was considered risky,” de Leur recalled. “But we’ve proven that with Mendix, it’s not only possible, but the smarter way forward.”

Early adoption of Mendix played a pivotal role in DLM’s success. “We were relatively early Mendix users, even before being a full software development house. It’s been a rewarding journey growing alongside the platform,” Meppelink reflected.

DLM has seen a welcome change: more openness to innovation, more comfort with technology, and a growing demand for flexible solutions.

“Our goal is to help clients embrace that shift,” said Frank Nijssen. “To show them that technology isn’t a threat. It’s an enabler. With Trade Manager, we’re delivering on that promise.”

That journey continues, with DLM’s path forward firmly rooted in the belief that technological sophistication and client-focused agility sets you apart.