How Ninety One Is Adding Edge to Their Investment Research Process With VerityRMS

Ninety One, a global asset manager overseeing investments across various asset classes, found themselves constrained by an outdated research management system that primarily served basic reporting purposes. After a comprehensive evaluation of available solutions, they selected VerityRMS to transform their approach to research management, improve collaboration, and support better investment decisions.

The Selection Process: Finding the Right Partner

Ninety One conducted a thorough evaluation of available solutions, focusing on systems that would deliver tangible benefits and integrate well with their many workflows across equity, fixed income, ESG, and more.

The selection committee prioritized:

• Usability: Would teams adopt and benefit from the system?
• Flexibility: Could it adapt to the specialized needs of different investment teams and across asset classes?
• Integration: Would it work well with existing tools and data sources, such as ISS?
• Collaboration: Could it break down information silos between teams and improve efficiency?
• Implementation: How straightforward would the transition be?

“As an asset manager with multiple specialist investment capabilities, we needed an RMS that could connect the various investment processes and drive positive collaboration across our overall research function.” — Paul Vincent, Portfolio Manager

Why They Chose VerityRMS: Beyond Basic Research Management

After evaluating multiple options, Ninety One selected VerityRMS for its ability to transform how they manage and use investment research.

Better Collaboration Across Teams

VerityRMS provided the central hub and collaboration town hall Ninety One needed to connect their investment professionals across the firm.

“With VerityRMS, we have a research management system that is fully integrated into our workflow and fulfills the function of both (a) a center of truth for research insights, and (b) town hall for collaborating across the organization around those insights.” — Niall Hartnett, Analyst and Head of 4Factor Equity Research

The platform’s features for working together — including commenting, smart search, and automated dashboards — help teams discuss and evaluate ideas regardless of location, creating a more connected research environment.

Adaptability to Specialized Workflows

A key differentiator for VerityRMS was its ability to accommodate the unique processes of Ninety One’s specialized investment teams while still providing a unified platform that met the rest of their criteria.

“VerityRMS has the ability to mirror each of our investment processes and create robust workflows to help monitor ongoing research projects.” — Paul Vincent, Portfolio Manager

The straightforward configuration capabilities meant that Ninety One could quickly adapt the system to their changing needs without disrupting existing processes or requiring IT support.

Enhanced Research Insights

VerityRMS is helping improve how Ninety One’s teams work with investment research:

• Custom dashboards show what matters to each user.
• Smart search helps find information quickly.
• Tool integrations let analysts use their preferred methods.
• Notifications keep everyone informed of important updates.

Continuous Improvement

Beyond the technology itself, Ninety One valued VerityRMS’s commitment to ongoing innovation:

“As a research-based organization, we need to ensure that we not only optimize our access to investment research across the firm, but also create feedback loops for continuous improvement by learning from history.” — John McNab, Co-CIO

Implementation: Smooth Transition to Better Workflows

The rollout was thoughtfully executed, with Verity’s experienced team partnering closely with Ninety One to support a smooth onboarding. The implementation process featured clear communication and realistic timelines, taking only 60 days to get the initial investment teams up and running.

Ninety One is measuring success by practical metrics that reflect real business value:

• User adoption across investment teams.
• Support for individual team workflows.
• Reduction in complaints about finding research and extracting content.
• Proportion of investment processes tracked in the system.

Outcomes: Empowered Decision-Making at Scale

By transitioning to VerityRMS, Ninety One transformed their research management from a simple repository into a strategic advantage that enhances investment decision-making.

Teams can now:

1. Access insights more easily: Improved search capabilities eliminated the time spent hunting for information.
2. Collaborate more fluidly: Collaboration features improved knowledge share across geographies and asset classes.
3. Use data more effectively: Integration capabilities and automated workflows improve the quality & accessibility of research.

The system now serves as the trusted central hub for investment insights that Ninety One envisioned — where teams can easily share ideas, track coverage, and learn from their research process.

Bottom Line: Turning Research Into a Strategic Asset

Ninety One’s transition to VerityRMS demonstrates how the right research management system can deliver real business value. By implementing a solution that focuses on user adoption, team collaboration, and process integration, they’ve created an environment where research is easily found, shared, and used across the organization. What was once a process-oriented function is now a strategic enabler — and a strong foundation for continuous evolution.

Is It Time to Upgrade Your Research Management?

Find, share, and act on insights faster — without losing control of your process. With VerityRMS, you can connect investment teams to the research, data, and tools they need while cutting out the busywork that slows them down.

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