FundTech Awards 2020: Product awards

BEST CLIENT SOLUTION
Winner – FactSet

FactSet’s 2016 acquisition of Vermilion brought together two of the leading financial information and regulatory reporting solutions in Europe. In a market where both the volume and detail of data requested by investors and regulators is growing, the Vermilion Reporting Suite (VRS) supports a range of reports. The firm also prides itself on adopting a collaborative approach when designing its target operating model and its use of open, flexible technology. FactSet and VRS has also added recent enhancements such as multi-browser support for smart devices and improvements to report design and creation. These include rewritten component and style functions, revamped grid functions and the ability to view changes to a report in real time.

Shortlisted – Opus Nebula; SimCorp

BEST DISTRIBUTION SOLUTION
Winner – Door Ventures

In this highly competitive category, the judges recognised Door’s clever use of technology to assess a problem that, when it comes to reporting and due diligence, affects the whole industry.

Door’s platform aims to digitise a process that has been stagnant for more than 20 years by helping managers move from outdated MS Word or Excel-based due diligence questionnaires (DDQs) to a more sophisticated and intuitive interface. Door also provides digital content maintenance and analysis tools. Furthermore, during the move to remote working prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Door has looked to bring the same digital innovation to the client engagement process.

Shortlisted – Allfunds; Dechert; Diligence Vault

BEST TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
Winner – Allfunds

Allfunds has grown to become one of the largest fund distribution networks globally with mutual funds and ETFs from more than 1,695 fund houses, €620 billion in assets under administration and agreements with more than 690 distributors. However, it is not just the scale of the platform that is impressive. Not only does Allfunds connect fund houses to distributors, it also provides data and analytics, portfolio and reporting tools, and research and regulatory services. Users are now able to search, compare and track more than 180,000 funds using interactive factsheets; build, track and adjust model portfolios; and generate financial scenarios using interactive tools.

Shortlisted – Curium Data Systems; DROOMS; SimCorp

BEST FRONT-OFFICE SOLUTION
Winner – Jacobi

Jacobi’s solution addresses the challenges that result from too many disparate investment applications. Firms typically have more than 20 different systems based solely around the investment process, leaving relationship teams starved of information and removed from the clients they serve. Jacobi’s cloud-based platform uses APIs and off-the-shelf investment tools so clients can build their own customisable, interactive dashboards using ex-ante and post-ante analytics. Consequently, engagement can be more interactive and focus on forward-looking analysis, not just past performance. Jacobi has had a number of interesting client wins in the past year and is especially effective for multi-asset managers.

Shortlisted – Backstop Solutions Group; SESAMm; SimCorp

BEST MIDDLE-OFFICE SOLUTION
Winner – iMeta Technologies

Client onboarding continues to be a frustrating challenge for both fund managers and their investors as regulatory requirements and disparate applications add to the inefficiency. iMeta’s approach is to move away from process-based technology. Its client lifecycle management software automates processes rather than replicating them by understanding what information is required and then building the process to collect what is missing. The company’s philosophy is based on mastering data, thereby enabling firms to reuse their data rather than recreating it. And by controlling their data in one central place, they are better able to apply their own policies and execute rapid and cost-effective responses to change.

Shortlisted – Citi; FactSet

BEST BACK-OFFICE SOLUTION
Winner – Financial Risk Solutions

Dublin-based Financial Risk Solutions (FRS) has been serving asset managers for more than 20 years with its InvestPro fund administration platform and has benefited from its ambitious growth and development plans of late. Importantly, FRS has continued to invest in the platform to keep its software up to date with both the challenges in administration and the changes in technology. Recent enhancements include the use of robotic process automation and cloud-based architecture to build a new operating model with a minimal human touch and more self-service. In the past year, FRS also helped a number of firms move away from their own inefficient legacy systems to a modern, digital back office.