BMO Harris Taps Charles River for Wealth Management Operations

BMO Harris Private Banking has rolled out three systems from Charles River Development—its Charles River Investment Management System, the Charles River Anywhere remote access tool and Charles River FIX Network—to automate wealth management operations for the firm and 134 investment counselors across Canada.

The firm deployed the systems as part of an overhaul that will combine domestic and international equities, fixed-income and mutual fund portfolios onto a single platform that will also provide remote access via the web.

"Having our entire organization working with Charles River has created significant efficiencies between our portfolio managers, traders and compliance officers," says Lara Arabian, director of strategic initiatives at BMO Harris Private Banking. "Previously, we were dependent upon complex spreadsheets, and manual re-entry of orders and trades. Now, we can easily submit trades and orders, rebalance portfolios, and handle large policy trades; taking into consideration all client and firm compliance rules throughout the trading process. We also have the flexibility to meet increased client demands for transparency and sophisticated instruments, such as options and derivatives, which historically have been unique investments for us."