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Aronson + Johnson + Ortiz has halted a plan to further automate its back office. Last year, the investment manager went live with Securities Transaction and Asset Reconciliation System (STaARS) and Custodian Reconciliation Data Collection Service (ReCollect) from Electra.

Automated reconciliation systems may not enjoy the style and sparkle from front-end trading and decision-support tools. In a market and economy in which investment management firms are seeking any way possible to cut expenses, technologies to manage the complete trade lifecycle are attracting the attention of an increasing number of buy-side firms.

The Prudential Financial asset management business has automated security-trade notification messaging via Electra. Prudential Investment Management (PIM) in 1999 began overhauling equity and fixed-income processing via a system consolidation to support growth. PIM signed on for the Securities Transaction and Asset Reconciliation System (STaARS).

Outtrades are a major problem all asset managers face. While they are inevitable, the approach of trade dare plus one day (T+1) settlement means that global straight-through processing will be a must.

A competitive vendor-market review at Aronson+Partners (A+P) has resulted in a contract with Electra. A+P picked Electra instead of the Rex reconciliation-management component of the Advent Software Advent Office. Electra said the investment manager has licensed its Securities Transaction and Asset Reconciliation System (STaARS) and Custodian Reconciliation Data Collection Service (RecCollect).