SimCorp, a leading provider of investment management solutions and services to the global financial services industry, announces a partnership with New York based start-up, Alkymi, to launch a new Machine Learning (ML) initiative. It’s arrival comes as institutional investors raise a number of data concerns, including the ability to quickly extract insights from unstructured data, for faster, more informed decision-making. Many investment firms are currently buckling under a number of operational constraints, including the burden of processing unstructured data or outsourcing it, inadequate cross-asset coverage within Enterprise Data Management (EDM) systems, and exceptionally low Straight Through Processing (STP) rates suffered in asset classes like alternatives, which are predicted to reach $14 trillion AUM by 2023*.
Founded in 2017. Alkymi’s Data Inbox is an ML-based platform – the first of its kind – to automatically extract data across enterprise workflows, empowering firms to create valuable insights instead of arduous data processing. The initiative launched today, will incorporate Alkymi’s product into SimCorp’s cross-asset, front-to-back platform, SimCorp Dimension. It will address limitations across the different asset classes to offer timely and complete solutions, starting with alternatives, where a lack of both automation and efficiency are currently shackling growing allocations of Limited Partners.
In a 2019 industry survey conducted by InvestOps, data collection (46%) and efficient processing of unstructured data (41%) were cited as the top two challenges European investment firms faced when supporting alternatives, with similar findings echoed in the North American version of the survey. The partnership between SimCorp and Alkymi, which also sees SimCorp taking an investment stake in the start-up**, will deliver institutional investors the following benefits:
- Remove arduous manual collection and processing of unstructured documents, including lengthy investor notices and quarterly/annual reports, a common feature in alternatives.
- Enable a highly efficient end-to-end workflow that makes data visible, accessible and available the second it enters the enterprise, to provide real-time access to high value data insights. .
- Facilitate more informed investment decision-making in the front office, better understanding of portfolio risk and exposure and faster reporting in the back office.
- Eliminate the need for outsourcing, enabling firms to maintain exclusive control and security over the proprietary data that forms their vital edge.
Hugues Chabanis, Product Portfolio Manager, Alternative Investments at SimCorp said: “To date, the lack of Straight Through-Processing (STP) for alternatives has either resulted in investment firms putting in significant operational effort or reluctantly going down the path of outsourcing, as a workaround. The initiative with Alkymi responds with an independent solution that both delivers the automation necessary for operational success and empowers control and governance over the data that ultimately forms a valuable analytical tool in alpha generation.”
Harald Collet, CEO at Alkymi comments: “We are delighted that SimCorp has selected Alkymi to enable workflow automation and real-time insights for top investment managers. The partnership enables SimCorp clients to focus on higher-value business priorities instead of spending time processing data and repetitive data entry tasks. SimCorp is an ideal long-term partner for Alkymi – a global industry leader with a track-record of focusing on customer value, end-to-end workflows, and innovation enabled by best-in-class software engineering.”
Johan Rosengreen-Kringel, Senior Vice President of Group Strategy at SimCorp added: “Our partnership and investment in Alkymi, reinforces our commitment to the open platform transformation we have set out on. Having already delivered a native front to back core platform far ahead of the curve, and while many in the industry play catch up to a front-to-back way of service delivery, SimCorp is optimally placed to lead the creation of a thriving buy-side ecosystem. Innovating and connecting with a network of fintechs, start-ups and service providers, such as Alkymi, is a natural direction for SimCorp in realizing this strategy.”
