Buy-Side Technology Awards: Best Buy-Side Integrated Front-Office Platform─Charles River Development

Yet the vendor believes the industry is moving away from individual modules. Its realization of the buy side's desire for a complete solution that encompasses decision-making, trading, and compliance, not only with regard to software but also integrated data and managed services, is part of what allowed Charles River to stay in the awards rotation this year. "Nowhere has there been more focus in the last year than ensuring portfolio managers have the tools they need to do their job, eliminating disjointed processes, bad data and spreadsheets," says Tom Driscoll, global managing director at Charles River.

Importantly, Charles River's IMS combines order management and execution management in a single trading blotter. Traders work faster and more efficiently while orders are managed without swiveling between systems. The platform consolidates all portfolio management activity into a central workspace with top-down asset allocation, model-building tools, and visibility of trade execution. Charles River has invested six years' research and over $100 million into its flagship product, which combines software, managed services, data, and connectivity for all asset classes. With more than 350 customers-36 in the last year-in 42 countries, all that work has paid off. Version 9 has been adopted by over 130 clients and counting.

Following the rollout of version 9 last year, Charles River IMS joined the mobile revolution with the Charles River Anywhere app for tablets and smartphones, while also expanding its web-based solution. It also extended its integrated data service with access to more exchanges, expanded fixed-income analytics and reference data, and increased support for benchmark data. Fixed-income support will be central to upcoming releases, according to Driscoll.