Press Release

ROYAL LONDON ASSET MANAGEMENT ADOPTS BLACKROCK’S ALADDIN® PLATFORM USING HSBC’S MIDDLE OFFICE SERVICES

LONDON, 4 March 2024 – Royal London Asset Management, one of the U.K.’s leading fund management companies, has adopted BlackRock’s Aladdin technology platform, which HSBC will leverage to manage the fund manager’s middle office for its £153 billion of assets. BlackRock’s Aladdin is a leading technology platform used by investment professionals to manage risk, providing a common language across public and private markets, operations, and data. 

Royal London Asset Management’s assets are currently serviced by HSBC’s Securities Services business, and will now be supported by BlackRock’s Aladdin technology platform.

By supporting HSBC as an outsourced middle office integrated solution, BlackRock’s Aladdin platform will help Royal London Asset Management to scale its future business on behalf of its growing client base. HSBC also has a 24-hour operations centre to support its clients using BlackRock’s Aladdin platform.

Jonathan Kennedy, Chief Operating Officer, Royal London Asset Management, said: “The successful delivery of BlackRock’s Aladdin as our new enterprise investment management platform, and Snowflake as the foundation of our new cloud data platform, has been over two years in the making. Its implementation is a transformational landmark for Royal London Asset Management and is fundamental in ensuring we continue to provide a first-class experience for our clients. It supports our ambitious plans for scalable growth, as we continue to improve our capabilities, efficiencies, investment strategies and the services we provide.

“It is by far the single largest and most complicated programme delivery we have ever attempted, and we are delighted with the outcome. We brought together a diverse and multi-skilled team that executed in the true spirit of partnership, achieving what can only be described as a world-class implementation. The commitment and effort from HSBC, alongside our other partners of Alpha, BlackRock and Bankside, was truly exceptional.”

Fiona Horsewill, Global Head of Securities Services, HSBC said, “We’re pleased to have successfully delivered a new middle-office solution for Royal London Asset Management using BlackRock’s Aladdin platform. This market-leading implementation of BlackRock’s Aladdin platform for Royal London Asset Management is designed to provide a more efficient and cost-effective operating model for the management of their funds. The importance of being able to serve global asset managers adopting the Aladdin platform is a major part of our wider digital and data strategy that supports client demand for real-time data.”

Tarek Chouman, BlackRock’s Global Head of Aladdin Client Business said, “BlackRock strives to deliver innovative solutions to our clients. Royal London Asset Management required a single technology platform that could not only partner seamlessly with HSBC, their existing middle office provider, but also provide the scale to meet its future growth ambitions. This demonstrates the unique capabilities of BlackRock’s Aladdin platform for asset servicers and asset managers. We are proud to help Royal London Asset Management and HSBC deliver a streamlined client experience through Aladdin.”

HSBC has provided Royal London Asset Management with global custody and middle-office services since 2006, including trade order support and post-trade settlement.

Supporting Royal London Asset Management on the implementation were Alpha Financial Markets Consulting (Alpha) and Bankside Financial Solutions Consulting (Bankside).

About Royal London Asset Management

Established in 1988, Royal London Asset Management is one of the UK's leading fund management companies, providing investment management solutions to both wholesale and institutional clients such as not-for-profit organisations, local authorities and the insurance sector.

Royal London Asset Management manages £153 billion of assets as at 30 June 2023. It invests in all major asset classes including UK and overseas equities, government bonds, investment grade and high yield corporate bonds, property and cash.

Issued September 2023 by Royal London Asset Management Limited, registered in England and Wales number 2244297; authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered Office: 80 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3N 2ER.

Visit rlam.com to learn more.
For press releases about Royal London Asset Management, please click here.

About HSBC

HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 62 countries and territories. With assets of US$3,039bn at 31 December 2023, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.

About BlackRock Aladdin®

Aladdin® is a tech platform that unifies the investment management process by providing a common data language within an organization to enable scale, provide insights, and support business transformation.

As a strategic partner to institutional investors including asset managers, pension funds, insurers, and corporate treasurers, Aladdin® combines sophisticated risk analytics with comprehensive portfolio management, trading, operations, and accounting tools on a single, unified platform. BlackRock’s Aladdin® platform is a financial technology platform designed for institutional use only and is not intended for end investor use.

Media contacts

Royal London Asset Management

Lora Coventry
+44 (0) 7919 170673
lora.coventry@royallondon.com

HSBC

Adam Durchslag
+44 (0) 7384 794644
adam.durchslag@hsbc.com

BlackRock

Emma Phillips
+44 (0) 7841 220365
emma.phillips@blackrock.com

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