Bloomberg AIM - Competitors and Alternatives

Are you considering Bloomberg AIM alternatives for your order management needs? This list provides an overview of some competitors to AIM, enabling you to assemble an informed shortlist for your decision. First, we list some information about Bloomberg AIM functions.

Bloomberg AIM is an order management system for the buy side, covering multiple asset classes. AIM is an acronym for Asset and Investment Manager. 

The system leverages the market data and analytics available through the Bloomberg Terminal. The fact that AIM is embedded within the Bloomberg terminal is both one of its key strengths as well as weakness:

• Strength: Terminal users can leverage the market data entitlements they already have in the terminal at no additional cost.
• Weakness: Connectivity to external systems (e.g. execution systems) and data.

Features of Bloomberg AIM include order raising, compliance, and post-trade processing. It integrates with other Bloomberg products (such as TCA & risk analytics), but such integrations are also possible for other OMSs - so it’s not a differentiator for AIM.

It integrates with other Bloomberg products, such as PORT, to create a bundle called "Bloomberg buy-side solutions".

The team behind Limina are a team of former asset managers. We’ve faced the challenges of selecting, implementing and using many different systems. As such, we’ve set out to be as helpful as possible to you, for example, when evaluating vendors.

Limina IMS is a web-based investment management software that is often a solid alternative to Bloomberg AIM. Limina cover the same functional areas in the Front Office and goes further into operations and automation. If you’d like to learn more about Limina, here are some resources that you might find helpful:

• Who Limina IMS is best suited for
• When Limina IMS might not be a great fit
• Top use cases of Limina IMS

Charles River IMS is a top-tier platform. Notable features of include:

• Comprehensive order and execution management capabilities
• Compliance monitoring and portfolio management tools
• Trade connectivity

Charles River primarily serves large asset managers but also caters to mid-sized wealth managers. The platform’s scalability and flexibility are among its key strengths.

Online reviews suggest that the implementation process and upgrades can be challenging, as well as a steep learning curve.

Enfusion’s front-to-back-office software is a simple yet broad solution, initially built for hedge funds. The solution includes functionality from accounting to order management.

An advantage of Enfusion is streamlined workflows across front, middle, and back office functions. This is because all functions reside in one system, rather than scattered between multiple software.

The system’s core architecture is multi-tenant, which has the advantage of cost-efficient IT. The main disadvantage is that data isn't isolated between you and other investment managers (shared database).

Thinkfolio, a portfolio management system (PMS) by S&P Markit, offers comprehensive capabilities for enhancing portfolio visibility and decision-making processes. While initially focused on fixed income, Thinkfolio has expanded to cover multiple asset classes.

In addition to its portfolio management functionalities, Thinkfolio also includes order management capabilities. This allows users to streamline their trading processes and efficiently execute investment strategies.

Thinkfolio has undergone significant changes in recent years. In 2014, Markit, a global financial information services provider, acquired it. Subsequently, in 2022, S&P Global completed its acquisition of Markit, bringing Thinkfolio under the S&P umbrella.

Similar to Enfusion, Eze OMS was initially created to service hedge funds. One fundamental difference is its pure focus on order management and compliance. In that sense, it’s a narrower platform that is more comparable to Bloomberg AIM in scope than Enfusion.

Eze OMS has been integrated with realtick (Eze’s Execution Management System) and Eze PMA (Eze’s portfolio accounting system) to create the Eze Investment Suite.

In 2018, SS&C acquired Eze Software from TPG for $1.45 billion.