This week marks the first anniversary of the formation of Rhyme Systems following a £20 million management buy-out from Misys Asset Management Systems. The company predicts 6 per cent growth in back office investment over the next 12 months.
“After several years of static markets we are seeing renewed confidence in investment in the back office and operations areas of the industry,” says CEO Chris Potts. “This follows a slow return of believe in the markets, pressure on infrastructure from a lack of investment in the past few years and increased regulation and market changes. Our objective was to change the perceptions of the back office function and encourage fresh thinking to maximise our clients return on investment in this critical function of their business. We feel we have certainly achieved this, which is illustrated in our end of financial year results with total revenues of £19 million, slightly ahead of our business plan.”
Rhyme’s products include Quasar, an investment operations product to support collective investments instruments, Fiscal, a settlement system, and Arrow, which provides a CREST interface. Rhyme’s clients include Brewin Dolphin, M&G, Jupiter, Coutts and Rathbone.
“We are certainly continuing to pursue our aim of being the best established investment operations systems provider in the UK and currently hold over fifteen per cent of the market share,” adds Potts.
The recent months have seen new contracts with Generali International signing for Quasar 6 and HBOS, as well as Rhyme leading the way for industry changes including the European Union Savings Directive (EUSD) seminar hosted earlier this year.
Bob McDowall of Bloor Research, comments: “The fund management will continue to face pressures to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of their business. Fund management is the main channel through which investors access the markets. Rhyme through its products and services continues to take a leading role in enabling the fund management industry to do this, especially in the UK markets.”