Misys, the global application software and services company, is gearing up to capture opportunities in Asia Pacific arising from its acquisition of Sophis that has enabled it to penetrate the buy-side market.
Misys announced on 1 March the completion of its acquisition of Sophis, whose solutions, particularly around the equities, equity derivatives and commodities areas, are complementary to Misys' products for in interest rate derivatives, foreign exchange and fixed income, as well as its commercial lending capabilities.
“The acquisition of Sophis has allowed Misys to penetrate the buy-side market in Asia Pacific,” said Alexandru Gomoiu, regional head of solution consulting for treasury and capital markets at Misys, adding that the company is expanding its presence in Asia to meet new opportunities with existing customers as well as new markets. “We are focused on meeting local requirements with our solutions but at the same time, we are backed by global platforms, expertise and presence,” he said. ”¨”¨
Among its solutions for the buy-side are Misys Sophis VALUE, a cross-asset portfolio and risk management solution covering investment management, risk management, middle/back office and accounting.
More than 80 institutions worldwide from start-up hedge funds to global asset management companies have adopted VALUE. iSophis provides integrated portfolio and risk management services through a simple ASP model. It is targeted at hedge fund managers and includes analytics for P&L, risk and performance management in a hosted environment. Sophis RISQUE is a cross-asset trade and risk management solution used by more than a third of the world's top 25 banks, supporting straight-through processing across all trading operations. Sophis has around 80 buy-side customers, including UBS Global Asset Management, Groupama Asset Management, Fidelity International and Dexia Asset Management. Its 50 sell-side customers include Barclays, HSBC, Natixis and Royal Bank of Canada.
“Systems that enable traders, investment managers and risk managers to price and manage any instrument, regardless of complexity or asset class, encourage innovation in the capital markets, as well as increase transparency,” said Stephen Bruel, research director at TowerGroup, a research and advisory services firm. “The ability to manage cross-asset portfolio strategies, combined with comprehensive risk management from the front to the back office on one integrated platform will keep institutions ahead of their competitors. Having a single vendor offering this broad coverage potentially reduces risk for financial institutions.”
Amongst Misys' customers is the Philippine Veterans Bank, which is upgrading to BankFusion Equation to support the growth of its consumer banking, trade finance and lending business. PVB has been a Misys customer for 10 years, and one of the bank's goals is to grow transaction volumes to match the demands of the business, particularly in the area of government agencies and local government units lending. In line with this expected growth, the bank's management was looking to automate processes, improve productivity and drive down the cost/income ratio to cater for the increased demands on operations. The Misys BankFusion Equation fully integrates loan and deposit cash management processes from origination through to the back office.
Author: Jill Wong