Van Lanschot Kempen is upgrading its investment infrastructure by adopting Amundi’s Alto platform, a move designed to simplify workflows and bring front- and middle-office functions closer together, the Dutch wealth manager told Investment Officer.
The transition comes as Amundi expands Alto from an internal portfolio system into a cloud-based platform now supporting more than 8,000 billion euros in assets across Europe and Asia. Amundi has positioned Alto as a European alternative to Blackrock’s Aladdin, the long-dominant system used across global asset managers, banks and insurers.
Reducing complexity
Gijs Spijkers, managing director investment management technology, said the change is driven primarily by the need to reduce operational complexity. “We were satisfied with our previous portfolio management systems,” he told Investment Officer. “This transition is a logical next step toward a scalable and sustainable operating model. A key objective is to bring our mid- and front-office closer together and thereby reduce operational complexity.”
“This transition is a logical next step toward a scalable and sustainable operating model.”
Gijs Spijkers, Van Lanschot Kempen
Replacing multiple tools is part of that process. “It is mainly about the scalability of the overall setup, not the PM system specifically,” he said, referring to portfolio management.
Spijkers expects a more homogeneous operating model with fewer handovers once the system is fully implemented. “We expect to see the effects after implementation. For now, the focus is on implementation itself, which will take some time,” he said.
Rail & OV, the pension fund for Dutch railway employees, adopted Alto in 2023, making Van Lanschot Kempen the second major Dutch institution to shift to Amundi’s platform. The list of international Alto users also includes BNY Mellon in New York and Thomas Miller Investment in London.
Modular approach
As a boutique wealth manager, Van Lanschot Kempen aims to preserve its ability to differentiate its investment philosophy while standardizing certain processes. Spijkers said the firm will implement Alto in a modular way rather than as a single end-to-end system.
“Alto will not become a total solution,” he said. “This allows us to continue to differentiate or specialize where we believe it is needed, while benefiting from Amundi’s market practices and experience to increase scalability where we see material advantages, both in terms of quality and efficiency.”
European footprint
Van Lanschot Kempen, based in Amsterdam and serving clients in the United Kingdom, Northwest Europe and the Nordics, has been repositioning itself increasingly as a broader European player. Its adoption of Alto follows another strategic shift: a wide-ranging partnership with State Street to launch active ETFs and expand distribution across Western Europe. That collaboration, announced earlier this year, reflects the same objective: strengthen infrastructure, simplify processes and support international growth.
Competitive field
Alto is active in a global market still dominated by U.S. platforms such as Aladdin and Charles River, both deeply embedded with large institutions, including Luxembourg-headquartered Quintet and its Dutch unit InsingerGilissen. But European managers are showing greater interest in alternatives that combine flexible architecture with European data governance. Van Lanschot Kempen’s decision reflects a broader reassessment among mid-sized firms seeking to reduce the cost and operational burden of fragmented technology stacks.
“Modular, cloud-native platforms are increasingly in demand,” an Amundi spokesperson said. The firm now serves more than eighty clients in fifteen countries and aims to double technology revenues by 2028.
Growth ambitions
Amundi has been expanding Alto since recasting it as an external SaaS platform in 2021. Alto began as an internal system developed after Amundi’s 2017 acquisition of Pioneer Investments, which at the time used Aladdin. Amundi migrated off Blackrock’s system within 18 months, a milestone that helped validate the strength of its own architecture.
Alto now supports investment, risk, compliance, data management and advisory workflows and is integrated with AI tools used widely by Amundi’s staff. The platform is part of the firm’s long-term strategy to build a substantial technology business capable of generating “hundreds of millions” in annual revenue, according to earlier interviews with senior executives. Analysts at Amundi highlight that SaaS revenue streams tend to attract higher valuation multiples than traditional asset-management fees.
API-based advisory tools
Aixigo, the German wealthtech firm Amundi acquired in late 2024, has strengthened Alto’s reach into retail and wealth channels through its API-based advisory tools.
Asked whether selecting Alto could give Van Lanschot Kempen an edge over domestic peers using other systems, Spijkers downplayed the idea. “We cannot assess the considerations of other parties, but competitive advantage will not be a primary reason,” he said. “Each firm will choose the system or partner that best matches its philosophy, fit and operating-model vision.”