A conversation with Cora Kielblock, head of Global Operations at Ninety One, on modernization, data management and partnering for future success.

In today’s world of rapidly evolving technologies, businesses need to modernize their solutions and infrastructure to maintain a competitive edge.

Ninety One, a global active investment manager and longtime State Street partner, did just that when it upgraded from legacy infrastructure to Charles River Development solutions and the State Street Alpha^® Data Platform. The South Africa-based firm viewed this transformation as critical to modernize its operations as it continues to offer expertise in differentiated fixed income and credit as well as specialist equities to its clients. Ninety One has over 1,200 employees in 16 countries and manages US$191.5 billion in assets.^* With a strong emerging markets and sustainability ethos, the company strives to provide long-term investment returns for clients, maintaining a unique focus on investment opportunities.

To learn more, we spoke with Cora Kielblock, head of Global Operations at Ninety One, about the firm’s evolution as a global multi-asset manager, its long-standing partnership with State Street and what lies ahead as it transforms its operating model.

Building through long-term growth and trusted partnerships

Ninety One prides itself on being a forward-thinking investment firm focused on emerging markets. It boasts a wide-range of investment products and believes it can be a force for positive change through a sustainable investment philosophy.

To execute this strategy, Ninety One relies on strong partnerships in addition to its own strong services and offerings. The firm began its partnership with State Street in 2004 with a transition of its middle and back office. Kielblock joined shortly after to manage the strategic relationship with State Street.

“It was immediately obvious that this would be a partnership, where all colleagues are treated as part of one organization working together toward shared goals, rather than as separate teams,” Kielblock said.

In early 2020, Ninety One demerged from Investec Group to focus on asset management for its global clients. As an independent entity, it listed on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, just days before COVID-19 lockdowns went into effect in multiple countries around the world. Right at the start of its new chapter, the firm faced economic obstacles shared by organizations across industries at the time.

“During that challenging time, State Street remained a reliable partner and stable organization,” Kielblock said. “Now we are a proudly independent investment manager with a long-term view, and we are eager to align our targets with those of our clients.”

Adding Alpha’s front-to-back technology and data tools

In 2019, State Street announced Alpha, an enterprise asset servicing platform seamlessly connecting the front, middle and back office for investment firms, asset owners and official institutions. Underpinned by the 2018 acquisition of Charles River Development, Alpha was purpose-built to offer a full solution suite across public and private assets with a 24/7 global service and support model.

“Immediately after Charles River was acquired by State Street, it became obvious to me how we could benefit because it answered the question, ‘How do we, as a client, tap into the power of State Street’s data streams and services?’” Kielblock said. “The Charles River angle made it a reality. At that point, we decided that was the path we wanted to take.”

At this time, Ninety One had two clear objectives, which were to improve its data management capabilities and refresh its front-office technology. To accomplish this, it viewed Charles River Development, as part of the Alpha platform, as the clear solution. But modernizing decades old data management and infrastructure is a complicated task.

“Transitioning from legacy transactional data management systems onto a new transaction model management system is incredibly difficult, both from a technological and cultural change perspective,” she said. “We are unplugging systems that have been in place for decades. And we are integrating those with a 20-year-old middle office that has been largely unchanged, with just tweaks around the edges for many years – so this is a wholesale re-engineering of the front-to-back process for both organizations.”

Alpha’s foundational data platform captures, curates and distributes trusted, real-time data to both internal stakeholders and external partners. Ninety One saw the platform as essential to unlocking the full potential of this data.

“We are implementing a platform that we can leverage for our future business objectives,” Kielblock said. “The biggest challenge most managers face is data. There is too much of it, and the ability and speed to wrangle data into insights is an asset manager’s most critical objective. This platform enables us to have more real-time information at our fingertips where we need it. That was the whole ambition when we started – to get away from our once-a-day, overnight batch cycle. So in a world where everything's instant and real-time, this platform will actually leverage and amplify our ability to generate long-term returns for our investors.”

A solid partnership for a strong future

Ninety One and State Street continue to work together in a cohesive partnership to reach client objectives and modernize operations for the future.

“It is a marriage,” Kielblock said. “We are in it together and working toward the same goals. I think the thing that differentiates State Street from other players in the market is its strong service ethos. This helps us move mountains for our clients, because our clients are demanding, emerging markets managers. So we challenge the team with new ideas all the time and appreciate their willingness to entertain our aspirations and co-produce new solutions.”

Looking ahead, Kielblock is optimistic about realized enhancements to the firm’s technology. Modernizing infrastructure and data management capabilities enable investment managers to create insights easily out of vast amounts of data. This is very much dependent on the operational ability to make insights available at the right time, in the right place and to the right people.

“Replacing 20 years of accumulated infrastructure with Charles River’s modern technology is a game-changer for us,” Kielblock said. “Equally important is our transition from once-a-day batch jobs to intraday data. This is an opportunity for us to move quite far ahead from where we are right now.”

Ninety One’s strategic modernization through Charles River Development and the State Street Alpha Data Platform reflects its commitment to innovation and long-term client value. The transformation positions the firm to harness real-time data and deliver sustainable investment outcomes for clients.