Breakthroughs on the Buy Side: Bhagirath Vora
Breakthroughs on the Buy-Side
Bhagirath Vora
Managing Director, Head of Fixed Income Portfolio Management Systems | State Street Global Advisors
Bhagirath is a 25-year veteran of the financial services industry who has focused his career on delivering systematic solutions for the needs of firms. At State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation, he leads the charge on technology for the front office.
In order to stay competitive, we have to transform and the process is continuous.
Q. How long have you been with State Street Global Advisors, and how has the firm evolved over the course of your time there?
I’ve been with Global Advisors for over five years now. The beauty of this industry is that it keeps us on our toes because there’s a constant evolution of things — whether it be the markets, the technology, or the regulatory environment. All of these changes happen for the better, I believe, and continually push us to evolve in multiple dimensions. In some cases, we are at the forefront of the changes, rather than at the receiving end — and for that, it has been a fun experience throughout these five years.
Q. What role has Bloomberg technology played in the firm’s evolution?
I’ve been fortunate to work with Bloomberg for more than 20 years, and at every step — including at State Street Global Advisors — I have found Bloomberg technology and Bloomberg personnel to be willing partners. The relationship that I’ve seen evolve through my five years here has been from that of a vendor to that of real partner for some of the business units within Global Advisors, especially the fixed income, cash and currency business.
The beauty of this industry is that it keeps us on our toes because there’s a constant evolution of things — whether it be the markets, the technology, or the regulatory environment.
Q. What industry trends are most impacting your work and the firm right now?
ESG and climate change are definitely at the forefront, as well as the associated regulatory frameworks evolving around them. Then there are the technology changes that we have seen, such as machine learning/artificial intelligence and things like chatGPT, or the whole market movement with crypto and the promise of how to use blockchain — which could evolve and is a space that we are keenly watching.
The sophistication and expectations of clients themselves have also reached a new level, which, from our perspective, is a healthy change. We hope to partner with Bloomberg even more to be able to surpass those expectations.
Q. What are some of the key ways that State Street Global Advisors utilizes Bloomberg buy-side solutions?
The reference data that Bloomberg provides is key for a majority of our businesses. The trading services and platform and connectivity that Bloomberg provides from the buy-side to the sell-side is also very important to us.
Apart from that, we utilize fixed income analytics and related capabilities. The PORT platform also provides the performance and the risk management attribution solutions for our business on the passive side.
Having consistent data and analytics at the security level and the fund level, and having the same analytics consistently used in performance and risk attribution, is key for us. The level of consistent quality that Bloomberg provides stands out to me. Also, Bloomberg’s data architecture transformation — from a closed platform into a much more open, API-based one in which clients can leverage Bloomberg data in their own infrastructure — has helped us build competitive solutions.
Q. How have you been investing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or working to close gender and minority gaps?
DEI is a very big component here at State Street Global Advisors, and we have a lot of plans in place to enhance that.
We know that once you bring people in, you have to ensure that they feel they are a part of the culture. Our President and CEO, Yie-Hsin Hung, who came in last December, has given a lot to focus on our culture. We recently created a talent, learning and culture council, for example, that is focused on how we bring in people, how we develop people, the talent pipeline, and the overall culture.
As for how I’m contributing, I’m involved in mentorship here at the firm; the particular mentorship program that I participate in is a professional women’s network mentoring program. Through that, I get an opportunity to promote inclusivity and an openness of mindset and paradigms to the mentees I have the privilege to have relationships with.
Ultimately, it’s very encouraging to see the humanistic side of the leadership that is promoting a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Coming from a background of being the first generation of my family to settle here in the U.S., I really admire the way the firm has taken diversity, equity, and inclusion to heart.