In other FinTech news, IPC & GreenKey collaborate, Groupama embraces SimCorp Dimension, and Eze Software renews a key security certification.
ALPS to Assist Fast-Growing Bluerock Fund
Bluerock Capital Markets, the managing broker-dealer for Bluerock Real Estate, will be using fund administrator ALPS Advisors, Inc. to service Bluerock’s Total Income + Real Estate Fund (TI+), regarded as a fast-growing interval fund, with approximately $1.2 billion assets under management, officials say.
The Bluerock TI+ fund “offers individual investors access to a portfolio of institutional real estate securities,” officials say. “The Fund seeks to provide a comprehensive real estate holding designed to provide a combination of current income, capital preservation, long-term capital appreciation and enhanced portfolio diversification with low to moderate volatility and low correlation to the broader equity and fixed income markets.”
The TI+ fund has an exclusive partnership with Mercer Investment Management, Inc. to help with the oversight of endowments, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and family offices. Mercer has more than 3,300 clients worldwide, and $11 trillion in assets under advisement, officials say.
ALPS is DST Company, which was acquired by SS&C Technologies Holdings, a provider of financial technology software and software-enabled services. The services provided to the Bluerock real estate fund include “full fund accounting, administration, distribution and compliance and transfer agency services,” officials say.
“Since its October 2012 inception, TI+ has consistently delivered industry-leading returns while giving investors the ability to invest in institutional, private equity real estate previously inaccessible to them,” says Paul E. Dunn, executive vice president of Bluerock Capital Markets, in a prepared statement. “After months of due diligence to select a new provider to help scale the fund to the next level, we are thrilled to partner with ALPS to leverage their market expertise and cutting-edge services in a manner that best serves our investors,” Dunn says.
“The selection of ALPS was based on the companies’ leadership in the interval fund market, and their deep understanding of the intricacies specific to an interval fund product’s quarterly tender offer process and daily security processing and valuation,” according to a statement from ALPS officials.
IPC & GreenKey Focus On Voice-to-Text Workflows
IPC, a provider of compliant communications and networking solutions for the financial markets industry, and GreenKey Technologies, a provider of voice-automated workflows for financial markets, report that they are co-developing a new set of cloud-based capabilities to enhance voice-to-text user workflows.
Purpose-built for regulated IPC users, the new capabilities will enable IPC Unigy 360 users to integrate voice across application and instant message services, the vendors say.
The companies expect the new capabilities to be available in the first quarter of 2019.
“Voice is arguably the most valuable source of data left to be digitized in today’s financial markets,” Anthony Tassone, GreenKey’s founder, says in a statement.
Groupama Asset Management Deploys SimCorp Dimension
France’s Groupama Asset Management has gone live with the deployment of SimCorp Dimension, to automate its front and middle office operations, per a SimCorp statement.
Groupama has more than €100 billion in assets under management (AUM), according to the statement.
Groupama Asset Management “decided to consolidate and simplify its IT throughout its front and middle office operations, to increase efficiency, gain agility and reduce operational risk,” SimCorp observes. “The group required a flexible and integrated solution enabling them to enhance the management of assets & liabilities, onboard complex instruments in line with the latest regulations, and deliver new and advanced functionality.
“Having gone live, we’ve already seen major benefits, including the removal of more than 10 solutions, much broader front and middle office functionality and most importantly, access to real-time data that enables our front office to make more timely and informed investment decisions,” Hubert Le Lourd, Groupama’s COO, says in the statement.
Eze Software Renews Security Certification
Eze Software, a provider of investment technology, has renewed its International Standard Organization (ISO) 27001 certification, expanding the scope to align with the requirements of the ISO 27017 Cloud Security and ISO 27018 Cloud Privacy standards.
The recertification covers Eze Software’s information security system infrastructure and operations supporting its Eze Investment suite and Eze Eclipse offerings, the vendor says in a statement.
ISO certification means that Eze’s information security management systems “meet global standards for keeping client data safe and confidential, and that Eze Software’s policies and procedures promote regular monitoring and continuous improvement of processes to keep up with the latest cybersecurity challenges,” according to Eze.
“Our clients are extremely savvy when it comes to security and privacy, and we are pleased to prove that we can meet their demands with an expanded certification this year,” Bill Bowman, information security officer for Eze, says in a statement.
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