The release delivers Phase Three of the firm's previously announced technology strategy. Version 8 represents the completion of the conversion of the system to N-Tier distributed processing and the three-quarters mark in delivering new Microsoft C# .NET application windows. It also contains hundreds of functional enhancements for portfolio managers, traders, compliance officers, and settlements personnel at institutional, hedge fund, and wealth management firms.

"In 2005, Charles River has signed 54 new client contracts to date, the majority of which based their decision on our superior technology platform and all that Version 8 offers, as well as our company's leadership position in implementation, client support, and relationship management," said Peter Lambertus, president and CEO at Charles River. "Charles River IMS delivers the most modern architecture and maximum performance of any order management system on the market today and our Version 8 truly sets a new industry benchmark for functionality, integration, and performance. Our new technology is standard, industry-accepted, and proven. It is already deployed at numerous client sites from hedge fund managers with minimal infrastructure to large multi-national and multi-asset investment managers."

Charles River IMS is undergoing a phased technology evolution to a distributed, service-oriented architecture (SOA) that encompasses best-of-breed technologies such as Java, J2EE, Microsoft .NET, and Web services. The result is a comprehensive investment management platform that offers superior performance, a wide variety of deployment options, unmatched flexibility and functionality, and maximum scalability regardless of long-term technology-trends. "Clients will appreciate the rapid application development that results from our use of this new technology," said Robert Hathaway, vice president of engineering at Charles River. "Our development team can now deliver in days what previously might have taken weeks to develop."