German asset manager reaps benefits of automation

Metzler Asset Management, a division of German private bank Metzler, has said implementing an order management system has enabled it to better comply with MiFID and evidence best execution.
By None

Metzler Asset Management, a division of German private bank Metzler, has said implementing an order management system has enabled it to better comply with MiFID and evidence best execution.

According to Metzler AM, using trading technology provider Charles River’s Investment Management System (IMS) has allowed the firm to triple its trading volumes since its implementation in 2007. The company now has €35 billion in assets under management.

“Before we implemented Charles River’s IMS, we developed our own proprietary systems, which resulted in a lot of paperwork and meant we had to work orders with our brokers via telephone,” Reinhardt Damm, head of Metzler AM’s buy-side execution desk, told theTRADEnews.com. “We now know everything about our trade history, including timestamps, and it has also enabled us to implement ITG’s transaction cost analysis tool.”

Automating trading processes has helped Metzler AM comply with MiFID, which requires buy-side firms to give more information on their trading.

“A key driver for implementing the Charles River system was so that we were in line with MiFID’s requirements to be more transparent and control trade efficiency,” said Thorsten Köble, senior business analyst, Metzler AM.

Charles River IMS has also enabled Metzler AM to support new instruments, such as swaps, and to expand its Master KAG business, which serves institutional asset managers in the overall administration of funds. Following implementation of Charles River IMS this business has grown to €20 billion.

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