Buy-Side Technology Awards 2017: Best Buy-Side Pricing/Valuation Service—AIM Software

It’s no easy feat to muscle in on the pricing and validation space. Between a host of competing incumbents and heightened demands for full pricing transparency from both users and investors, AIM Software’s centralized GAIN Portfolio Pricing platform stands out from the pack through its blend of out-of- the-box functionality and flexibility, allowing buy-side users to access pricing functionality for multiple portfolios and net-asset value calculations.

A single implementation of the system provides a centralized point of control and transparency for pricing funds and portfolios, aimed at increasing straight-through processing (STP) across pricing teams and reducing the need for manual intervention.

In conjunction with increased regulatory burdens, transparency of pricing and valuation data has become a critical issue for the buy side, with regulators and auditors now demanding that asset managers be able to demonstrate full data lineages to explain pricing decisions. Based on a modular parameterization approach, accessible directly to operations users, the platform provides delivery of new funds or requirement changes, while ensuring consistent control and a complete audit trail for pricing policies across multiple portfolios.

Asset managers are increasingly turning to alternative and exotic investments in order to source liquidity while interest rates remain low. AIM Software has extended the reach of its data feeds and coverage by onboarding new services, such as IDC Apex from ICE Data Services. The vendor has also addressed buy-side concerns over increasing volumes of data, which in turn often result in increased operational costs, by prioritizing its STP capabilities through a smart rules engine, which removes as much as possible from users’ task lists, resolving issues while still leaving exceptions open where humans do need to intervene. The multi-portfolio support aspect means the price exception applies itself to all portfolios affected, without the need to make similar updates multiple times.

Throughout the last twelve months, AIM Software has recorded new global client wins in the Middle East, Australia, North America and its home European stronghold. Now it is turning its attention to expanding its hosted services offering for GAIN Portfolio Pricing, having already rolled the service out for its corporate actions solution, to further reduce the vendor management burden on its asset management clients.