In this Q&A, Michael Cummins, portfolio management lead at FINBOURNE Technology, deconstructs some of the key findings from the recent AIMA Emerging Stronger industry report. The Q&A uncovers the vast opportunity that rising allocator interest brings, and the operational challenges that emerging hedge funds can tackle with SaaS technology to achieve scale and success.

At nearly USD 3 trillion, digital assets such as cryptocurrencies are enjoying their hey-day as the new ‘digital gold’ and the hedge fund industry is no stranger to the asset class. FINBOURNE’s Michael Cummins and Tim Wong explore the allure of cryptocurrencies for systematic hedge funds and why achieving scale and diversification, through the use of SaaS technology is essential to striking gold.

While hedge funds are currently enjoying a renaissance, the scale of global assets under management has not gone unnoticed and regulation is set to play a major role in the industry in 2022. The question is, how will this impact hedge funds across the globe and how will fund managers continue to secure capital allocations and respond to market opportunities, while sailing in unchartered waters?

Amid the ‘Great Resignation’, many firms are increasingly under pressure to retain and attract talent, and future-proof operations. None more so than the hedge fund industry, where vast volumes of investment, market and reference data is submerging people and processes today. Thomas McHugh explores the impact of legacy software on hedge funds and why investing in the right technology will attract a more motivated workforce, boost productivity and protect business continuity.

The incoming Chief Data Officer (CDO) is transitioning into the organisation. His predecessor is “seeking exciting new opportunities outside the organisation”. On his way out after the handover week the outgoing CDO hands his replacement three numbered envelopes…

FINBOURNE Technology, in collaboration with the Financial Times, also hosted a panel on capitalising on the power of data in asset management. Thomas McHugh, FINBOURNE Technology’s co-founder and CEO participated in the session alongside the Chief Data Officers of OFI Asset Management and UBS Asset Management. Watch the full session here. On investment data management… Continue reading Capitalising on the power of data in asset management

Thomas McHugh, FINBOURNE Technology co-founder and CEO participated in a session on Understanding the resilience of ESG and impact investing in the face of COVID. He was joined by the CEO of HSBC Asset Management, the Global Head of sustainability at BNP Paribas, and the CEO of International Federated Hermes in a quality discussion. Watch… Continue reading Understanding the resilience of ESG and impact investing in the face of COVID

Taskize, the leading provider of inter-company workflow to the financial services industry, has been chosen by FINBOURNE Technology as a component of its award winning LUSID open investment platform.

HFM hosted another great EU Tech Summit this Monday, 22nd of February covering popular and pressing topics with industry experts. FINBOURNE was excited to participate in the panel on Alternative Data for Traditional Managers.

Earlier this week we held a webinar discussing illiquid markets. This blog highlights some of the themes that arose: the origins and nature of the liquidity challenges, the data solution to those challenges and how the right toolset will empower gathering, consolidating and incorporating the data solution not only to inform allocation strategies, but also… Continue reading Operating in illiquid markets: Consolidating disparate data sets to develop your investment insight

In our last API blog post, we looked at how an API-first strategy reduces operational costs and enhances access to data. In this piece, we set out what a good quality API looks like and examine some of the ways in which the right API-first platform can transform how you access and manage your investment… Continue reading APIs for the investment industry: What does good look like?

Last week, we participated in a webinar at HFM’s European Technology Forum. I spoke on a panel with Michael Fastert, COO and CLO at TIG Advisors, and Doron Gutstadt, CTO of Taconic Capital. Read on to get a snapshot on: Hedge funds: Taking a collaborative approach to driving technology decisions In our webinar poll of… Continue reading How technology can give you the edge as you grow your fund

Investment fund infrastructure has not typically been optimised for the rapid exchange of information, but rather for functionality around a narrow set of instruments, vendor services and third-party administrators.

In today’s interview, Dermot Shortt, FINBOURNE Chairman sits down with Olivia Vinden, Alpha FMC’s Head of Fintech and Innovation. We discuss automation, how buyside firms are using data analytics in distribution as well as their investment processes and why ecosystems are so important today.

In the first of our FINBOURNE interviews series, Dermot Shortt, FINBOURNE Chairman sits down with David Pierson, Director, OMBA Advisory & Investments.

Last week we held a webcast with The Trade where we did something we think is unusual: we defined an Investment Book of Record (IBOR). Not by what it is – that’s a fairly commonplace categorisation – but by what it does.

This blog looks at the solution we implemented to fix an issue with the Python SDK which was very difficult to pinpoint.

In this piece we look at how the concept of the OMS became popular, what problems it sought to address, how today’s complex investment environment is testing the capabilities of the OMS and the alternative solutions available.

This week, I spoke on a panel at the HFM European Technology Summit about the future of hedge fund technology. Here are my thoughts following the panel.

We’re delighted to have won ‘Best Buyside Newcomer’ at Waters’ Buy-Side Technology Awards for LUSID, our open, API-first and developer friendly investment data platform.

Increasingly diversified investment strategies, closure of mutual funds, the rise of passively managed funds and companies racing to consolidate. It’s easy to say the asset management industry is slow to change but when you look at it from the outside, it’s being pummelled by change in all directions. How do you adapt to external change… Continue reading Change is inevitable. Growth is optional

Daria Deluermoz, one of our first graduate hires – talks through her route to FINBOURNE, her first few months in the job and what a typical day looks like.

The problems that an IBOR is trying to solve are well understood, but there are many shortcomings with the approach. The best analogy that we’ve come across came from a recent conversation with the CDO at a global investment firm. He compared implementing an IBOR with building a self-driving car. For a vehicle to be… Continue reading Do you even need an Investment Book of Record (IBOR)?

While retail banks have mostly been dragged kicking and screaming into the UK government-backed Open Banking initiative, the fund investment industry should treat it as an opportunity to remove unnecessary cost, connect more closely with their customers and build better services.

This is the first in a series of posts looking at some of the questions we’re regularly asked about improving the investment data management process. Today we’re looking at reconciliations.

In our last piece, we said we would talk more about “transactions” being the meta-solution to a swathe of investment industry challenges

A big part of our story at Finbourne is maintaining an open communications channel with our customers, our partners and the community in general.

Having spent the last 15 years cossetted in the big corporate world blissfully unaware of just how complex managing Identity and access control actually is, I can best describe my journey of the last month as enlightening. Emboldened by our mission and with the idea that we were, through the advent of cloud technologies, free from having to worry about such tedious things as user management, we embarked on our righteous path.