Spotlight Series: Dave Antonelli on What 20 Years Managing Portfolios Taught Him About Technology

Dave, could you introduce yourself and share your background?

Dave Antonelli: I’m a Strategic Account Executive here at IMTC, focusing on sales and strategy. Before joining, I spent over 20 years at BlackRock as a fixed income portfolio manager of both institutional and retail portfolios, and I also led a team of 40 PMs. A big part of my role was driving scalability, making portfolio management operations more efficient at a time when fees across the industry were coming down and client requests for customization were going up. I started my career in operations -custody and trading- (some of my fondest memories in the business!), so I’ve seen fixed income from every angle: the back office, the trading desk, and the client-facing side.

What drew you to IMTC?

DA: Speaking with friends throughout the industry, the recurring theme was always the same: “We need better processes, better technology, and a way to do more with fewer resources across our fixed income business.” There was clearly a need, but the solutions often sounded daunting: hire a team of programmers, build something in-house, maintain/evolve that solution over time and hope it worked.

Through networking, I was introduced to IMTC and Russell. Once I saw what the team was building, technology for fixed income, by fixed income professionals, I knew it was the right fit. It allows me to scale my own expertise, meet with firms facing these same challenges, and show them a ready-made solution that makes them more efficient in an era of shrinking fees and increased customization.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in fixed income, and what challenges persist?

DA: In one word: technology. The speed and availability of information have transformed the industry. It used to take teams hours just to understand their exposures and risks before they could trade. Now, with the right tools, managers can see risks instantly and execute quickly. That creates a clear divide: firms with strong technology have a first look at liquidity and can act decisively. Those without are left behind.

But fee compression is relentless. As technology improves, competitors can do more with less and undercut pricing. Just look at ETFs: fees have raced all the way to zero. At the same time, investors want customization. They don’t want a line item in a generic index mandate. They want to feel seen, like their manager understands their timelines, their retirement goals, and their story. Delivering that level of personalization at scale is the challenge.

As a former PM, what were the biggest pain points you experienced firsthand?

DA: Building the workflows. Figuring out which portfolios have needs, accounting for all the compliance rules, then equitably allocating across accounts. That’s a massive challenge when you’re managing a large number of portfolios. You’re doing the same thing every day because there’s no automated system handling it, aggregating data from different spreadsheets and sources just to get started.

I heard the same complaints from my team constantly: the repetition, the desire to spend more time as actual investors. Everyone wanted to do higher-value work, whether that was studying the macro environment, specializing in a sector, or building client relationships. Instead, they were stuck doing manual processes day after day.

They weren’t unique – I hear this when speaking with most prospects today.

As a manager, I also understood the downstream risks this created: the costs of doing things slowly, missing trades, operational errors, compliance gaps, reallocations. And because I started my career in operations, I saw firsthand how critical back-office automation and straight-through processing are to keeping everything running smoothly.

When you first saw IMTC’s platform, what surprised you?

DA: What struck me immediately was how intuitive the IMTC platform is. I’ve seen platforms that were powerful but challenging to navigate, and simpler tools that couldn’t handle real complexity. IMTC is both. It’s intuitive, easy to pick up, but it has everything a sophisticated investor needs to manage a complex book.

The flexibility and simplicity are game changers. You can customize workflows, handle complex compliance rules, and manage thousands of portfolios without feeling like you’re fighting the technology. And the best part is that it’s accessible for firms of all sizes.

How are you helping fixed income managers in your role at IMTC?

DA: As a Strategic Account Executive, I get to talk with fixed income managers every day who are facing the exact same challenges I dealt with for 20 years. Because I’ve been in their seat, I can speak their language and understand what they’re really up against. That allows me to provide customized demos that address the specific workflows and pain points each prospective client is dealing with.

I had someone literally fall off their chair during one of these demos. We were showing optimizations across 100 muni portfolios, all with customized compliance rules. It would have taken them two to three days to do manually. With IMTC, it took about a minute right in front of them. They immediately saw the value – once they got back on screen.

What I see most often is excitement, but also a little bit of anger. Prospects realize there’s a solution that tackles their biggest pain points, like the spreadsheet gymnastics of gathering data from different sources and tracking compliance rules, and they haven’t implemented it yet. They’re thrilled and frustrated at the same time.

People don’t necessarily believe how quickly the optimizer works or how robust the connectivity is until they see it themselves. That’s when it really clicks.

What transformation do you see when clients adopt IMTC?

DA: Growth and agility. Firms can grow their business without adding headcount, and they can trade more frequently to take advantage of market opportunities. Our clients consistently report better outcomes because they’re spending more time on strategy and less on the operational aspects of portfolio management.

What trends will shape fixed income technology over the next five years?

DA: Two stand out. First, Separately Managed Accounts. More investors are moving beyond mutual funds and ETFs and asking for SMA platforms. SMAs are stickier assets: clients stay longer, and managers have more time to perform.

Second, scale through technology. Consolidation is accelerating across the industry. Firms that win will be the ones who can manage more portfolios without adding headcount. That’s only possible with the right technology.

What advice would you give CIOs or PMs starting their digitization journey?

DA: First, ask yourself: do you want to hire another PM, or could technology cover that need?

Then, think carefully about buy versus build. Building in-house might seem attractive, but the costs don’t end at launch. You’ll spend heavily on ongoing maintenance and constant updates. Markets evolve, clients evolve, and your system will always need to evolve too.

With IMTC, we maintain and enhance the platform for you, drawing on best practices from leading asset managers and RIAs. That’s a huge benefit that’s often overlooked.

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