A key feature in the first of this year’s bi-annual releases is a new Alternative Investments Manager, which enables buy-side firms to handle illiquid, alternative investment types, such as Private Equity, Real Estate and Infrastructure, alongside more traditional assets.

The Alternative Investments Manager offers the buy-side market an automated solution for its alternative investments, dispelling the need for niche systems and manual processes. Users can fully integrate the module with SimCorp Dimension’s IBOR (Investment Book of Record) to effectively support multi-asset investment strategies in one highly automated system.

As part of SimCorp’s strategic vision, the new Alternative Investments Manager provides the opportunity to further streamline processes across asset classes, as operational efficiency and cost reduction continue to dominate the global buy-side agenda. In a recent WBR InvestOps survey, 62% of the 100 North American buy-side firms questioned named alternatives and private debt as the most challenging and costly asset classes to support. The same survey found 80% of firms looking to system consolidation as their chief strategy for cost reduction in 2018.

The new Alternatives Investments Manager aims to better serve the growing number of ‘limited partners’ investing in alternatives. The module is a configurable 360° dashboard of invested assets, where users can view and edit all transactions, positions and securities. With ‘slice and dice’ analytics functionality, users can track performance based on a variety of criteria, enabling improved risk management and access to more granular data to make the most informed investment decisions.

Other highlights of SimCorp Dimension Release 6.3 are:

• Strategy Manager for Solvency II
The first of this year’s two SimCorp Dimension releases also introduces the Strategy Manager. This is a new solution that provides enhanced functionality for compliance with Solvency II. Since its introduction, Solvency II has pressed firms to carry out more in-depth analysis of the various investment outcomes on their Solvency Capital Requirement and consider this analysis more actively in their investment decisions. By introducing the new ‘what-if’ functionality, the Strategy Manager solution enables users to simulate different strategies and actively manage Solvency Capital Requirements. This analysis is valuable to pension funds and insurers, for steering their strategy and investments and for deciding how to handle large market movements. The solution is equally valuable for asset managers with a wish to provide best-in-class services to asset owners.

• Collateral Management
Release 6.3 integrates front office and collateral management workflows, initially enabling portfolio managers to block positions from the collateral pledging process. Operational improvements include short checks on collateral pledges and recalls, usability enhancements in the recently released Margin Manager and dashboards, and extended instrument support.

• MiFID II
Release 6.3 completes SimCorp’s delivery of functionality to support MiFID II compliance. Seamlessly integrated across front office and IBOR, the solution offers the workflows needed to establish automated T+1 Article 26 transaction reporting and real-time post-trade reporting via FIX. In addition, interfaces with trading venues have been updated to offer compliance with MiFID II’s order record keeping requirements.
Commenting on the new SimCorp Dimension release, Marc Schröter, SVP of SimCorp Product Management said: “Many investment managers are starting to realize the need for integrated and automated IT platforms to reduce costs and operate more efficiently. The new Alternative Investments Manager is significant, because it enables the buy side to manage all asset classes in one unified solution, powered by an IBOR at the core of the investment system. By investing 20% of our annual revenue into R&D, we will continue innovating our offering, including alternatives, to provide the buy side with the forward-looking functionality they need.”

The next version of SimCorp Dimension will be released in August 2018.