For the past decade DTCC’s Alternatives Investment Products (AIP) platform has been modernizing the alternatives industry by providing a centralized, universal standard for processing, reporting and settling transactions across pre-trade, trade and post-trade. The AIP team has continuously engaged with industry organizations by serving on committees, participating in regular discussions and assisting with development of frameworks to create industry-wide impact.
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Learn more about the extensive industry engagement that DTCC’s AIP team participates in:
Institute for Portfolio Alternatives (IPA) Operations
The IPA is a leading trade organization that provides national leadership for the portfolio diversifying investments (PDI) industry and is dedicated to driving the industry forward through education, innovation, and transparency. Some of the ways IPA advances the industry are through actively engaging in industry advocacy through the legislative and rulemaking process as well as hosting knowledge and networking events for IPA’s member companies spanning asset managers, distribution partners and industry participants.
Justin Schwartz, DTCC Executive Director, Product Management Wealth Management Services, AIP, currently serves on the IPA Technology, Innovation and Operations Committee where the group discusses industry issues and helps create solutions. Many of AIP’s clients participate in IPA committee meeting calls – which often include AIP updates– and in-person events. The annual IPAVision event is one DTCC has participated in for many years where team members have been featured on panel discussions.
Nicsa
Nicsa is a not-for-profit trade association striving to connect all facets of the global asset management industry to develop, share, implement, and advance leading practices. To achieve this, Nicsa helps firms meet the evolving needs of their clients through education programs, interactive forums, networking opportunities and initiatives.
Schwartz participates with Nicsa in their alternative investments space through the Nicsa Alternative Investments Committee, providing an AIP update as a standing agenda item. This committee involves general conversations around processing alternatives and there are industry topics that people suggest or ask for presentations to the committee.
SIFMA Asset Management Group (AMG)
The SIFMA AMG Alternative Investments Operations Forum brings the asset management community together to provide views on U.S. and global processing and to create best practices. The organization has a broad view of alternatives, which includes loans and derivatives, and its members are industry firms that have combined assets under management that exceed $45 trillion.
Along with Schwartz, Frank Gaffney, DTCC Executive Director, Wealth Management Services, has participated with SIFMAs AMG Alt Ops for the past six months to provide an overview of DTCC’s AIP services as well as focusing on a new alternative’s “framework”. In addition, they are collaborating to develop an upcoming whitepaper that will focus on the future of operations for alternative investments.
Defined Contribution for Alternatives Association (DCALTA)
DCALTA is a non-profit association that exists to advance the usage of alternative investments within a Defined Contribution framework. This association was created to help bridge the information gap through research, education and advocacy on how to effectively incorporate non-traditional investments into defined contribution plans.
Justin Schwartz and Frank Gaffney joined DCALTA earlier this year to understand if AIP could help bring alternative investment processing support to defined contribution plans. The Alts Technology & Innovations committee’s goal is to apply appropriately designed modern technology to help eliminate the timing, liquidity and valuation process issues experienced in the alternative investment marketplace. The Alts Technology & Innovation committee also focuses on new technology, including distributed ledger technology (DLT) and application programming interfaces (APIs), which could be a new opportunity to implement next gen technology for alts processing. Justin also participates in the Implementation and Operations committee.
All of these partnerships have helped the AIP team gain a better understanding of clients’ needs and consistently contribute to the future of alternative investment processing.
“We are thrilled to be engaging in partnerships with organizations leading the advancement of alternatives,” explained Schwartz. “Through these industry partnerships our team will continue learning, innovating and contributing to the evolution of the alternatives industry.”
To learn more about AIP or how to become more involved in alternatives partnerships, please email [email protected].