Legal & General
Investment Management
With tax reform on the horizon and interest rates
showing signs of rising, looking
deep into corporate strategies
was top-of-mind for asset owners
this year.
A stampede of high-profile
names funded and de-risked
their LDI programs over
the year. Legal & General
Investment Management of
America (LGIMA) stood out
because of its laser focus on LDI.
LDI is a stand-alone
business at LGIMA, and this
allows the firm to break down
silos. The specialist brings
more resources to bear, along
with a high degree of expertise.
LGIMA offers a full
suite of LDI solutions,
spanning all tiers of the
process. Implementation can
include the firm’s cutting-edge derivative solutions, and
LGIMA continues to invest
heavily in the systems and
personnel required to maintain
and build upon its leadership
in the space. In a big year for
LDI, LGIMA’s focus showed.
Finalists
Goldman Sachs Asset Management
NISA Investment Advisors
Parametric Portfolio (Clifton)
PIMCO
Prudential
Russell Investments
BlackRock
BlackRock made its mark as a transition management services provider for
large OCIO managers in
the US. In the past year,
BlackRock’s US Transition
Management (TRIM) team
added over 15 clients and
launched offerings including
The Custom Liquidity Beta
Solutions (CLBS) and Tactical
Investment Accounts (TIA)
portfolios. CLBS uses baskets
of ETFs and futures to replicate total investment policy
exposures, including equities,
fixed-income, commodities,
and real estate, TIA gives
select clients the ability to gain
specific exposure to equities,
fixed-income, and commodities
through ETFs, treasuries, and
futures, according to the firm.
“Transition management is
critical to many of our clients,
and we are proud to be able to
combine our experience and
trading capabilities together
with state-of-the-art technology
and risk analytics [within the
Aladdin platform] to provide
an innovative offering,” says
Paul Francis, managing
director and head of BlackRock’s US TRIM team.
Finalists
Citi
Northern Trust
Russell Investments
State Street
FactSet
In the fast-paced environment of technological innovation,
Fact Set is keeping up with the
times through acquisitions,
strategic partnerships, and new
product offerings.
The firm continues
to transform itself from a
workstation to a workflow
provider, bolstering its
traditional portfolio analytics
platform with the intent of
providing an all-encompassing
investment tool to its clients.
Examples of the
firm’s activities include the
acquisitions of Vermilion
Software, a global provider
of client reporting and
communications software; and
BISAM, a provider of portfolio
performance, and attribution
and multi-asset risk analysis.
The firm also forged
strategic partnerships with
MSCI ESG research and
Informa Global Market to
expand its market intelligence
across certain asset classes, and
with the global consulting firm
Mercer, just to name a few.
Finalists
BlackRock
Bloomberg
Clearwater Analytics
PitchBook
Generation Investment
Management
Given the proliferation of product and attention
towards the sustainable invest-
ment landscape, few players
emerge as leaders within the
space and Generation Invest-
ment Management is among
them. It is the firm’s integrated
approach to environmental,
social, and governance
investing and the caliber of
the team that sustains the
firm within the “crème de la
crème.”
Generation’s “truly
long-term approach, depth,
and thoughtfulness about
sustainability as a market
driver within their investment
decision process,” is why
one CIO recently increased
commitments to the firm’s
Global Equity Fund.
“Their visioning for
long-term economic trends and
having both investment and
non-investment professionals
adds to the diversification of
thought to their process, which
has been advantageous to their
clients,” the CIO said. The
firm’s solid returns speak for
themselves.
Data &
Technology
Transition
Management
Finalists
Invesco
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Morgan Stanley Investment
Management
Neuberger Berman