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Sofina switches back-office to SimCorp Dimension

Global investment company, Sofina, which is listed on Euronext Brussels, is now live on SimCorp Dimension. Following an agreement signed in June 2018, Sofina has replaced its legacy infrastructure with SimCorp’s integrated investment platform, across its back-office operations, to manage accounting for both equity and alternative investments.

In the recent years, Sofina has implemented a growth strategy, with around EUR7 billion assets under management and a global reach. With an investment strategy of long-term minority investments, allocations in top-tier venture capital and growth capital funds and investments in fast-growing businesses, it required a new operational infrastructure that would support its current operations and aid future growth.
 
With an increasing alternatives allocation, Sofina, like many buy-side firms increasingly executing multi-asset strategies, suffered a lack of operational efficiencies within its back-office investment workflows. This, together with data challenges associated with new investments, prompted the need for a modern and integrated back-office accounting solution with exhaustive functionality and cross-asset class coverage. SimCorp Dimension’s multi-asset accounting solution was chosen as ideally suited to support Sofina’s investment operations. As a result, it has already seen a significant decrease in the time taken to input the portfolio accounting operations, since going live on SimCorp Dimension.
 
As illiquid investments such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure continue to dominate global investment allocations, the need for scale and automation across many buy-side firms is becoming progressively apparent. While the returns are bountiful, the costly and resource-intensive nature of alternatives are now leaving a noticeable impact on revenue margins. This is not isolated to Europe. A recent SimCorp commissioned survey of 100 buy-side Heads of Operations in North America, found processing of unstructured data, a reliance on manual processes and spreadsheets, and a detrimental time lag of reliable information, as the top three challenges in supporting alternatives investments.

Hans Otto Engkilde, Managing Director and Senior Vice President, SimCorp UK, Northern Europe and Middle East, says: “The buy side is facing a number of challenges today. This includes the efficient management of traditional asset classes alongside alternative and illiquid assets, which cause a strain on operational agility and more importantly, profitability. By moving to SimCorp Dimension, Sofina has taken that first important step to consolidating its accounting operations, eliminating manual workarounds to focus more on its investment decisions. This automation, together with a strong, scalable solution that supports growth, provides a compelling, competitive advantage.”

Jean-François Lambert, Head of Operations at Sofina, says: “SimCorp Dimension’s broad and established back office solution will deliver us a strong foundation to achieve our future investment goals. With SimCorp’s advanced accounting analytics and rich functionality, we gain more-informed investment decisions as well as greater operational efficiency. The combination of SimCorp’s strategic outlook and our own long-term view makes us confident we can fulfil our ambitions for growth.”

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