SimCorp Focuses on Front-Office and Alternative Investments Tools

Investment management software provider SimCorp will increasingly focus on its front-office suite and alternative investments manager solution, after prioritizing system upgrades and enhancements based on the requirements of clients and the market.  

Hans Otto Engkilde, managing director and senior vice president at SimCorp UK, Northern Europe and the Middle East, says the company injects about 20% of its annual revenue directly into research and development (R&D) for its core solutions. 

“Our software releases are a large part of this R&D and they ensure innovation remains at the core of our solutions,” he tells WatersTechnology. 

SimCorp now delivers four releases a year just to keep up with client demand and the evolving buy-side market, particularly in relation to regulations such as uncleared margin rules and the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR).

Engkilde says the buy side faces a growing number of operational challenges, ranging from regulation to handling an ever-increasing amount of data on a daily basis. 

“In addition, the growth of alternatives has added more complexity and cost, as many firms continue to manage traditional and alternative asset class data separately and across disparate systems,” he says. “In the current low-margin climate, this siloed state of operations has led to a breaking point and a real need for more simplified, integrated infrastructure. We see this when we talk to the market and also from independent research, which affirms an overwhelming majority of operations leaders are looking to consolidate alternatives onto a single platform for front-to-back office processing, to improve operating leverage and reduce costs.”

Engkilde adds that SimCorp believes consolidating operations onto a single, core multi-asset platform will enable the buy side to achieve the optimal operational efficiency required to operate profitably. 

Global advisory, broking and solutions provider Willis Towers Watson has deployed SimCorp Dimension to support its front-to-back investment operations system. The system will support the management of roughly $120 billion in assets under management. 

Willis Towers Watson’s investments business will use a spectrum of SimCorp Dimension modules, ranging from Asset Manager in the front office through to Investment Accounting, and SimCorp Coric for its client reporting needs.