AFTAs 2024: Best IT team—TCW Group

- WatersTechnology Staff
- 10 Dec 2024

About the team

The charter of Los Angeles-based fixed-income specialist TCW Group’s Architecture and Engineering Team (AET) is to:

Deliver the firm’s architectural roadmap
Set standards for development and runtime tools
Establish end-to-end architecture and design patterns
Run the Architecture Review Board and mature its software development process
Engineer innovative solutions and drive the firm’s cloud journey/strategy
Develop shareable components and frameworks

TCW Group’s AET responds to evolving business demands driven by market opportunities, while ensuring the stability of its current environment and advancing the firm’s strategic architecture.

In 2023, TCW made a bold entry into active ETFs by acquiring E1’s thematic equity ETF business and added several equity and fixed-income ETFs. As recession fears (hard vs. soft landing) grew in 2024, so did market volatility. TCW’s active ETFs offer lower-cost opportunities to capture market differentiation. AET’s ability to meet business demands under tight deadlines in a transitioning technology environment was impressive. AET’s agility allowed the business to confidently announce the ETF launch
TCW Group

Key project

TCW Group acquired Engine No.1’s (E1’s) thematic equity business and added it to its ETF product suite with new equity and fixed-income ETFs. AET integrated E1’s technology, migrated E1’s investment operations to TCW, built fixed-income ETF capabilities, and consolidated its ETF and mutual fund operations. With pre-announced ETF launch dates, AET ensured support in both the current environment and the strategic technology environment, including the upcoming launch of its new portfolio management platform, Aladdin.

Problems solved

The ETF launch date was driven by favorable market timing and regulatory approval, although the firm’s leadership was concerned about the technology team’s ability to meet its launch deadlines. Amid a five-year modernization journey, 2024’s focus was on rolling out Aladdin to support TCW’s portfolio management operations, while building internal proprietary investment functions. Despite compressed revenues from years of unfavorable interest rates, maintaining headcount was crucial to ensure ETF capabilities were supported both in Aladdin and the current environment in case the Aladdin rollout was delayed.

Technology

E1 used AlphaDesk―London Stock Exchange Group’s order and portfolio management platform―to support its equity ETF operations, Amazon AWS infrastructure for reporting, and BNY as its custodian. TCW’s current environment includes Charles River Development for portfolio management and investment operations and no ETF capabilities. As part of its modernization drive, TCW is completing Aladdin testing with Snowflake as the data environment and Microsoft Azure as the cloud provider. The firm’s AET met its ETF launch deadlines by supporting ETF capabilities in E1’s environment and in both current and target TCW environments.

Why they won

One should never believe a CIO or head of IT when they tell you that integration projects are straightforward—they are either being disingenuous or naïve, or both. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Integration projects are invariably a headache for all involved, not because they lack the necessary experience, technology acumen and nous to manage such projects, but because they always seem to produce curve balls. That TCW Group’s AET was able to subsume E1’s thematic equity business, while simultaneously bedding down BlackRock’s Aladdin platform speaks volumes about the skill and effectiveness of the team. While Aladdin has been around for decades and is used by large numbers of buy-side firms to support their various portfolio management functions, no two buy-side firms are the same.

This is AET’s second win in succession in what has historically been one of the most sought-after categories making up the AFTAs, past winners of which include JP Morgan Wealth Management (2020, 2021 and 2022) and Charles Schwab Investment Management, (2017, 2018 and 2019). Who would bet against TCW Group following its predecessors’ trios of wins by taking home this award for a third time in succession?

Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.

To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: https://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe

You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.

You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.

As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (point 2.4), printing is limited to a single copy.

If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com

You may share this content using our article tools. As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (clause 2.4), an Authorised User may only make one copy of the materials for their own personal use. You must also comply with the restrictions in clause 2.5.

If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com