Brevan Howard is working with SoftBank Group, hedge fund Penso Advisors and 15 others to use its high-tech operational infrastructure that once only served as the trading backbone for Brevan Howard’s more than $40 billion in assets.
The investment firm’s platform, which was spun off in 2018, is similar to BlackRock’s Aladdin software, according to Bloomberg. The unit, called Coremont, has grown to service more than $50 billion in assets for mainly alternative money managers trading everything from stocks and bonds to cryptocurrencies, Jev Mehmet, its chief executive officer, said in an interview.
“What was built is scalable, so we thought there was definitely mileage in extending the platform to the wider investment community,” he said, adding that he expects to double assets and clients in three years. From offering bespoke investment strategies and prized research to letting external clients use the plumbing that drives trading, hedge funds have been laboring to ease pressure on revenues as investors demand a better deal from an industry notorious for charging high fees.