Schroders embraces Blockchain and other newsletters

In other news, a South African firm taps SS&C Sylvan, Intériale Mutual signs with Clearwater & Tradeweb shuffles executives.

Schroders takes a minority stake in Forteus

Investment management giant Schroders invests in Forteus, an asset manager with a focus on blockchain technology and digital assets. Schroders officials say they will develop next-generation investment solutions via the new scheme.

Forteus is the asset management arm of Numeus Group, a diversified digital asset investment firm led by Nobel Gulati former CEO of Two Sigma Advisers. Numeus is made up of finance, blockchain and technology professionals who apply their institutional experience to the new world of digital assets.

“Learning from Numeu’s research and technology platform will enable Schroders to leverage the transformational benefits that blockchain can bring to the asset management industry and develop our tokenization strategy,” according to Schroders officials.

“Forteus will offer a range of investment solutions spanning bespoke portfolios by external managers, return generation, actively managed thematic portfolios and, in the longer term, tokenisation. When available, Schroders will provide clients with access to Forteus capabilities where appropriate,” adds officials to.

“Blockchain will be a catalyst for fundamental change in asset management, financial services in general and many other industries more generally,” says Peter Harrison, CEO, Schroders, in a prepared statement. “It not only has the potential to transform the efficiency of existing solutions, but will drive the democratization of private assets; it represents a new frontier for technological and financial innovation.”

Gideon Berger, the former chief investment officer at Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, is non-executive chairman of Forteus, officials say. Forteus is based in Zug, Switzerland and has an office in New York.

A South African company chooses SS&C Sylvan

A South African company, Momentum investmentsis using the Sylvan performance measurement solution from SS&C Technologies to replace “disparate performance measurement systems” with a single solution focused on current and future investment performance measurement and reporting requirements, officials say.

The firm, part of the Momentum Metropolitan Group, serves private and institutional investors, with assets under management and administration of more than R550bn (US$34bn), officials say.

“Sylvan will also streamline and elevate our performance processes through his best capabilities,” says Jannie du Randt, operations manager at Momentum Investments, in a prepared statement. “During our evaluation process, SS&C demonstrated both Sylvan’s strength and the expertise of their team. We are confident they are the right partner to help us expand and improve our activities, including GIPS compliance.”

SS&C Sylvan offers investment performance calculation and reporting and analytics support for performance teams via cloud-based dashboards, self-service reporting and data management, officials say.

French insurer loses Clearwater for investment accounting

Intériale mutuala mutual insurance company for France’s public employees, has selected Clearwater Analytics, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of investment accounting, reporting and analytics solutions, to serve as its provider of investment accounting and reporting services, officials said.

Intériale Mutual is the mutual insurance company of the French Ministry of the Interior and seven other national ministries, which supports more than 1,000 local authorities, officials say. The company was established in 2008 to “provide complete protection for health care and retirement fund needs.”

Intériale Mutual will use Clearwater Analytics for its automated investment data aggregation, reconciliation and accounting platform, and for its user experience, officials say. Intériale Mutual will also use Clearwater’s offering “to develop its accounting framework to support multi-basis accounting capabilities.”

“Clearwater provides us with a completely new operating model and valuable services such as post-trade, risk and performance,” says Jean Francois Tilquininvestment director at Intériale, in a prepared statement.

JPMorgan veteran to become Tradeweb’s next president

An industry veteran from JPMorganThomas Pluta, will become the next president of Tradeweb Markets, an operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, stocks and money markets, officials say.

Pluta, who will join Tradeweb in October, worked for nearly 27 years at JPMorgan, most recently serving as global head of linear interest rate trading and co-head of North America rate trading, officials said.

Pluta will become president-elect of Tradeweb and will later become president on 1 January 2023. Then Tradeweb’s current president, Billy Hult. will succeed Lee Olesky as managing director. “As previously announced, Olesky will step down as CEO at the end of 2022 and continue as chairman through 2023,” officials said.

Pluta will report to Hult, and will retain his seat on Tradeweb’s board, a position he has held since 2017, officials added.

“At one point or another, Tom’s relationship with Tradeweb has included client, trader, investor and board member, and that broad perspective will be a great asset to Billy Hult’s leadership team as well as the board,” Olesky said in a prepared statement.

Founded in 1996, Tradeweb Markets is a global operator of electronic marketplaces for fixed income, credit, equity and money markets, providing access to markets, data and analytics, electronic trading, right through processing and reporting. Tradeweb serves the institutional, wholesale and retail markets, officials say.