Charles River Development - Competitors and Alternatives

Background: Functional scope

To ensure you're comparing apples to apples, we start with some background on the functional scope of different systems. You can skip this section and jump straight to the comparison if you want.

Front-to-Mid (F2M)

CRD is a platform that covers both front- and middle-office capabilities. It's usually the only investment software needed by an investment manager. Direct competitors would have the same functional scope.

Front-to-Back (F2B)

A front-to-back office system extends into the ledger as well. For investment managers with separate account systems or a fund admin, the full F2B setup isn't required.

Front Office (FO)

A pure front office solution, i.e. narrower in scope compared to CRD. These are also referred to as Order Management Systems, and need to be complemented with additional systems.

Limina IMS

The team at Limina, as former investment managers, understands the challenges of selecting a system. While we offer powerful investment management software, we believe in providing an unbiased overview. This is why we've listed who we believe are the true top alternatives to CRD here, and not just ourselves.

We’ve tried to make it easy for you to confirm whether Limina is a match for you or if Limina might not be your best choice.

BlackRock Aladdin

BlackRock Aladdin is a comprehensive investment management platform that provides end-to-end investment management solutions. It offers advanced portfolio risk analytics, performance measurement, trading capabilities, and more.

Aladdin's sophisticated investment software suite caters to the needs of the world’s largest institutional investors, including BlackRock itself.

SimCorp Dimension

SimCorp Dimension is a front-to-back system used by large investment management companies. The platform supports various asset classes and caters to global investment strategies. The majority of SimCorp’s client base is in EMEA.

Online reviews highlight data management capabilities. Although highly rated, the system’s complexity and steep learning curve are drawbacks mentioned by users.

SS&C Eze

Eze Software offers various solutions for different parts of the investment lifecycle:

Eze EMS (formerly known as RealTick) for execution management capabilities
Eze OMS for order management capabilities, including compliance
Eze PMS (formerly known as Tradar) for portfolio accounting

Eze has been acquired by SS&C, who also owns Advent which offer similar products.

Bloomberg Asset and Investment Manager (AIM)

Bloomberg is a trusted name in the financial industry, and their Trade Order Management System (OMS) Asset and Investment Manager (“Bloomberg AIM”) covers part of an Investment Management Solution scope. Bloomberg's solution suite also includes portfolio management capabilities through its product Bloomberg PORT.

Bloomberg AIM comes with extensive market data coverage included through the Bloomberg terminal, which all users must have.

S&P Markit Thinkfolio

S&P Markit Thinkfolio is a Portfolio Management System, covering modelling and order management.

Thinkfolio aims to enhance portfolio visibility and improve decision-making processes. The software started in Fixed Income but now covers multiple asset classes.

Thinkfolio was acquired by Markit in 2014, and then Markit was, in turn, acquired by S&P in 2022.

Why consider Limina

Any platform must cover your functional needs. Beyond that, it's crucial to understand what will happen when your business evolves. And when things in daily investment workflows don't go according to plan.

Fast time to market

For initial implementation
As your business evolves

Sophisticated For example the ability to forecast exposure (not just cash!) into the future, to plan trades of assets with different settlement cycles

Simple

Easy to learn
Easy to troubleshoot

How to confidently

Switch from Charles River

Changing systems can be perceived as risky and take quarters if not years. We help you reduce switching risks and time.

Cost

We understand that every day you're not live has a direct financial cost, as well as an opportunity cost.

Risk

Your business evolves, which means an implementation is trying to hit a moving target. Faster to go-live means less unknowns.

Put us to the test

Let us do an assessment of a migration project for your situation. We'll provide timeline and cost - and you hold us accountable.

GenesisBoutique asset manager

Genesis moved to Limina a achieved the benefits of a cloud-native environment:

Lower IT costs
Simpler BCP processes
More efficient operations

AvanzaAsset management department of bank

By adopting Limina's scalable platform, Avanza has launched 33% additional funds without having to scale its investment operations team. They achieved:

Decreased dependency on single individuals - by replacing spreadsheets
Improved operational efficiency - by increased automation

Charles River Development - Competitors & Alternatives