--- title: "Investment Management System (\"IMS\")" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-03b487" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03b487" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03b487.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03b487.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Award" buyer: "BRITISH BUSINESS BANK" published: "2023-04-05" --- # Investment Management System ("IMS") Buyer: BRITISH BUSINESS BANK Current stage: Award OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-03b487 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03b487) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03b487.json) ## Summary The British Business Bank has recently awarded a contract for an Investment Management System ("IMS") to BlackRock. The IMS contract will facilitate the management of the debt and equity portfolio of the Authority, covering implementation, migration support, professional services, licensing, and maintenance. This contract, awarded through a negotiated procedure without prior publication, aims to address technical reasons that prevent competition, ensuring effective investment administration. The contract, valued at £890,000, was signed on March 31, 2023, and the British Business Bank is the buying organisation located in Sheffield, United Kingdom. This tender provides an opportunity for businesses that specialize in IT services, consulting, software development, and Internet support to compete. Companies with expertise in investment management systems and portfolio administration may find this tender particularly appealing. Considering the limited procurement method used and the unique technical requirements, businesses offering comprehensive solutions and advanced technology services would be well-suited to compete for this contract. Key dates and deadlines should be closely monitored for potential future opportunities arising from this award. ## Notice The Authority has awarded an investment management system ("IMS") contract ("Contract") to BlackRock, relying on the exemption in Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to use the negotiated procedure without prior publication, on the basis that competition is absent for technical reasons. The IMS will allow the Authority to manage the full investment administration cycle of its debt and equity portfolio ("Portfolio"). The Contract covers implementation, migration support, professional services, licensing, and maintenance. ### Lot Information Lot 1 The Authority has awarded an investment management system ("IMS") contract ("Contract") to BlackRock, relying on the exemption in Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to use the negotiated procedure without prior publication, on the basis that competition is absent for technical reasons. The IMS will allow the Authority to manage the full investment administration cycle of its debt and equity portfolio ("Portfolio"). The Contract covers implementation, migration support, professional services, licensing, and maintenance. The Authority considered that the Contract can be supplied only by BlackRock through its eFront Invest solution, as BlackRock is uniquely able to provide certain mandatory requirements of the Authority's specification. The Authority reached that conclusion after the following due diligence process: *Engagement of an external consultancy with expertise in this area to prepare a market analysis of options available against the Authority's service requirements and technical specification *An "RFI" was undertaken with a shortlist of suppliers identified by the external consultancy ("Suppliers") to understand the technical capability and compatibility of the systems with the Authority's mandatory requirements and the unique breadth of its Portfolio both in its current and future state *An options report was prepared by the external consultancy which identified eFront Invest as the only solution able to meet the Authority's mandatory requirements, specifically in relation to fee and waterfall modelling, API connectivity to ensure effective data ingestion and system integration and the level of coverage required to support the Portfolio *The Authority's business architect completed a comparative analysis of the Suppliers' sample offerings. This analysis concluded that eFront Invest offers a solution that can support the Portfolio, and that it has inbuilt functionality to support fee and waterfall modelling, flagging that these are mandatory requirements This due diligence established that alternative suppliers could not meet the Authority's mandatory requirements. Specifically, BlackRock is uniquely able to provide fee and waterfall modelling, API connectivity to ensure effective data ingestion and system integration, and the level of coverage required to support the Portfolio. Moreover, the only available alternatives to eFront Invest would have incurred unacceptable operational and accuracy risks including: *incurring operational and data accuracy risks due to managing multiple software solutions and using manual data entry input *A disaggregated solution increasing the risk of error *Inability to deliver on reporting and wider obligations to UK Government *The incompatibility of the alternative solutions to the Authority's underlying infrastructure could have impacted the traceability and transparency levels required to meet audit and reporting requirements which could also have incurred reputational risk *The lack of a full-service solution across all current and future requirements would have created the need to maintain and potentially increase manual steps and End User Computing Solutions outside operational risk tolerance The Authority is confident that for the outlined reasons no reasonable alternative or substitute exists to eFront Invest. The Authority is also confident that its specification is reasonable and was not been artificially narrowed or constructed in such a way that only eFront Invest would be able to meet its requirements. Additional information: A VEAT notice 2023/S 000-008087 was previously published in relation to this contract ### Procurement Information The Authority has awarded an investment management system ("IMS") contract ("Contract") to BlackRock, relying on the exemption in Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to use the negotiated procedure without prior publication, on the basis that competition is absent for technical reasons. The IMS will allow the Authority to manage the full investment administration cycle of its debt and equity portfolio ("Portfolio"). The Contract covers implementation, migration support, professional services, licensing, and maintenance. The Authority considered that the Contract can be supplied only by BlackRock through its eFront Invest solution, as BlackRock is uniquely able to provide certain mandatory requirements of the Authority's specification. The Authority reached that conclusion after the following due diligence process: *Engagement of an external consultancy with expertise in this area to prepare a market analysis of options available against the Authority's service requirements and technical specification *An "RFI" was undertaken with a shortlist of suppliers identified by the external consultancy ("Suppliers") to understand the technical capability and compatibility of the systems with the Authority's mandatory requirements and the unique breadth of its Portfolio both in its current and future state *An options report was prepared by the external consultancy which identified eFront Invest as the only solution able to meet the Authority's mandatory requirements, specifically in relation to fee and waterfall modelling, API connectivity to ensure effective data ingestion and system integration and the level of coverage required to support the Portfolio *The Authority's business architect completed a comparative analysis of the Suppliers' sample offerings. This analysis concluded that eFront Invest offers a solution that can support the Portfolio, and that it has inbuilt functionality to support fee and waterfall modelling, flagging that these are mandatory requirements This due diligence established that alternative suppliers could not meet the Authority's mandatory requirements. Specifically, BlackRock is uniquely able to provide fee and waterfall modelling, API connectivity to ensure effective data ingestion and system integration, and the level of coverage required to support the Portfolio. Moreover, the only available alternatives to eFront Invest would have incurred unacceptable operational and accuracy risks including: *incurring operational and data accuracy risks due to managing multiple software solutions and using manual data entry input *A disaggregated solution increasing the risk of error *Inability to deliver on reporting and wider obligations to UK Government *The incompatibility of the alternative solutions to the Authority's underlying infrastructure could have impacted the traceability and transparency levels required to meet audit and reporting requirements which could also have incurred reputational risk *The lack of a full-service solution across all current and future requirements would have created the need to maintain and potentially increase manual steps and End User Computing Solutions outside operational risk tolerance The Authority is confident that for the outlined reasons no reasonable alternative or substitute exists to eFront Invest. The Authority is also confident that its specification is reasonable and was not been artificially narrowed or constructed in such a way that only eFront Invest would be able to meet its requirements. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010012-2023 | | Notice type | Award Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Limited | | Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Large, SME | | All stages | Award | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 5 Apr 2023 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | 17 Mar 2023 | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | £890,000 | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Complete | | Lots status | Cancelled | | Awards status | Active | | Contracts status | Active | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | BRITISH BUSINESS BANK | | Additional buyers | BRITISH BUSINESS BANK PLC | | Locality | SHEFFIELD | | Post town | Sheffield | | Postcode | S1 2GQ | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber | | ITL 2 | TLE3 South Yorkshire | | ITL 3 | TLE32 Sheffield | | Local authority | Sheffield | | Electoral ward | City | | Westminster constituency | Sheffield Central | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## Supplier | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Number of suppliers | 1 | | Supplier names | EFRONT | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support ### Codes - 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support ## Release History - 5 Apr 2023 at 15:05 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010012-2023 - 20 Mar 2023 at 18:29 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/008087-2023 ## Notice URLs - http://www.british-business-bank.co.uk - https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=773905003 ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03b487. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03b487.json.