In other news, 5th Century Partners taps Northern Trust, AMX turns to Fund Recs & the LSEG buys TORA.
FactSet & BlackRock Forge Partnership
Asset management giant BlackRock will be integrating its Aladdin investment management and operations platform with FactSet’s Portware execution management system (EMS) to offer common clients access to trade execution, multi-asset portfolio and risk management support, and Portware’s electronic trading and automation capabilities via an application programming interface (API), officials say.
To facilitate the product integration, FactSet and BlackRock have signed a multi-year partnership agreement, officials say. The Portware EMS is established in the listed assets and foreign exchange markets, but also encompasses fixed income trading, officials say.
“Offering flexible access to Portware through the Aladdin platform effectively advances our open data and platform strategy while answering the growing demand for personalized workflow solutions,” says Rob Robie, executive vice president (EVP) and global head of analytics and trading for FactSet, in a prepared statement.
“The new capabilities will become available on the Aladdin platform to mutual clients starting March 2022, with additional capabilities to be rolled out throughout 2022 and 2023,” officials add.
5th Century Partners to Use Northern Trust’s Services
Chicago-based private investment firm 5th Century Partners (5CP) has tapped Northern Trust to provide fund administration and related services in an arrangement that spans Northern Trust asset servicing, wealth management, and asset management units, officials say.
5CP, which is a Black-owned firm, invests in middle-market companies “with a focused approach that taps into diversity as a tool to drive strong financial outcomes that can create transformative wealth opportunities for diverse communities and stakeholders,” officials say.
Northern Trust will provide banking, investor services, and support for “the launch of 5CP’s oversubscribed debut fund, which closed to investors earlier this year with $144 million in capital commitments,” officials add.
Northern Trust Asset Servicing will provide fund administration, fund accounting, and investor services “to 5CP through its Private Capital Administration unit, while Northern Trust Wealth Management provides comprehensive banking services. In addition, 50 South Capital Advisors, LLC, a unit of Northern Trust Asset Management, served as an advisor to select investors seeking access to the fund.”
“Beyond being our financial partner, Northern Trust shares our vision to transform how business is conducted and to generate strong financial outcomes that can lead to economic and social impact,” says Marques Torbert, co-founder and partner of 5CP, in a statement.
AMX Taps Fund Recs for EMIR Reconciliation
The London-based Asset Management Exchange (AMX), which provides a venue for investors, asset managers, and service partners to interact and transact, will be using the reconciliation services of Dublin-based vendor Fund Recs, whose Velocity platform will help AMX automate EMIR reconciliations, officials say.
“Fund Recs’ EMIR reconciliation module supports the oversight requirements for fund managers to ensure that all trade data reported for EMIR is complete, accurate and timely,” according to Fund Recs, which is also a service partner in the AMXConnect Store.
Fund Recs offers cloud-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) reconciliation systems for the global funds industry, intended to replace enterprise software, officials say. Fund Recs was founded in 2013 and beyond is headquarters has offices in New York and Waterford, Ireland.
LSEG Acquires TORA for $325 Million
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has acquired TORA, a vendor whose offerings combine execution, order, and portfolio management systems (EMS, OMS, and PMS), in an all-cash transaction worth $325 million, officials say.
The acquisition will enable TORA clients to access LSEG’s market data offerings, benchmarking indices, corporate actions and “a much larger yield book,” officials say.
“TORA will help to enhance LSEG’s offering in Asia, North America, and Europe and deliver best in class, multi asset front to back trading technologies. Both companies are focused on building a state-of-the-art financial infrastructure that operates across the entire investment lifecycle as an open ecosystem,” officials say.
Once the acquisition is complete, TORA, based in Burlingame, Calif., will be part of LSEG’s Data and Analytics division as part of its Trading and Banking Solutions business, officials say. The acquisition is expected to close during the first half of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals.
“TORA has grown entirely organically since we formed in 2004. We are proud that all of our products have been built independently in-house since day one. However, change is needed to evolve, and as we look to grow our global business we couldn’t have asked for a better partner than LSEG,” says Robert Dykes, CEO for TORA, in a prepared statement.
“Acquiring TORA will enable LSEG to deliver critical ‘at trade’ capabilities for the buy side,” says Dean Berry, group head of trading and banking solutions, LSEG, in a statement.
The TORA OEMS and PMS solutions target front-to-back end trading for buy-side and sell-side firms trading in global equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, derivatives and digital assets, officials say.
Jefferies LLC served as the exclusive financial advisor to TORA.
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