Charles River Development Makes Mark On South Africa

Charles River Development, the provider of front- and middle-office investment software solutions, is making inroads into South Africa.

The vendor announced it is helping investment managers in South Africa offer more complex instruments and comply with upcoming regulations that their existing systems cannot support.

Charles River announced that Absa Asset Management (ABAM), a South African asset manager, recently implemented the Charles River Investment Management System to replace its proprietary solution that could no longer provide adequate operational support.

The South African economy has experienced an impressive recovery from the lows of 2009, and many investment firms have seen a sharp increase in assets under management, Charles River noted in a release.

To be competitive and manage for growth, asset managers are seeking to improve efficiency and the ability to offer a diverse portfolio of increasingly complex products.

With Charles River IMS, ABAM has automated its entire front-office operations on a single platform; gaining the scalability and agility required to meet market demands while improving overall system efficiency. South African asset managers are also leveraging Charles River IMS to comply with regulations such as Regulation 28 of the country's Pension Funds Act.

Changes to Regulation 28 will control pension fund administrators' use of more complex investment options, such as derivatives, and exposure to foreign assets.

To support this and other regulations, Public Investment Corporation (PIC), the Government owned asset manager focusing on official sector funds, is implementing the Charles River Compliance module.

Since 2009, PIC has been a user of Charles River IMS for portfolio management and trading across its fixed income and money markets operations. By adding Charles River Compliance, PIC will automate its compliance workflow and have a single system for centralized, real-time compliance monitoring and management, the vendor said.

"Charles River Development continues to build its presence in South Africa as investment management firms update their existing systems to manage for growth," says Jon Steward, managing director EMEA, Charles River Development. Melanie Rodier has worked as a print and broadcast journalist for over 10 years, covering business and finance, general news, and film trade news. Prior to joining Wall Street & Technology in April 2007, Melanie lived in Paris, where she worked for the International Herald ... View Full Bio