Buy-side to overhaul swaps systems - SimCorp research
Over a third of US buy-side firms plan to invest in, or upgraded, platforms for derivatives systems as Dodd-Frank's swaps rules come into force, a poll from investment management solutions firm SimCorp has shown.
The poll showed 32% of US buy-side executives will overhaul their derivatives systems, while 31% are investing in client reporting ahead of the new regulatory landscape.
Also, 28% of respondents said a major priority this year would be building an investment book of record (IBOR) to centralise position-keeping across all assets.
"While it is no surprise that derivatives systems top the list, the real question is what approach will firms take to processing derivatives?" questioned Sean Owens, director of fixed income and derivatives at consultancy Woodbine Associates. "If firms take a derivatives-only system approach, without leveraging the available funding for multi-asset class system capabilities and the IBOR, then there is a missed opportunity for a 360 degree view into asset and exposure tracking," Owens said.
IPC launches regulatory-inspired managed services
Trading software provider IPC Systems will offer market participants greater help in navigating regulatory requirements related to trading communications with a new offering.
The Global Business Unit has been designed to offer managed services to help customers improve performance, reduce costs and meet changes to regulation.
"We partner with our customers to help them realise efficiencies that result in immediate cost savings, which is top of the agenda in today's climate," said Marianne Leitch, senior vice president, IPC Managed Services.
Anova fixed income models boosted with link-up
Data management provider DST Global Solutions will work with with Flametree Investment analytics to bolster its fixed income attribution models within its Anova Performance offering.
The alliance will give asset management firms greater analysis of sources of risk and return within fixed income funds while reducing turnaround costs and time.
"Fixed income as a market has historically been less well served and models have been data hungry and time consuming to run. With allocations to fixed income being at an all-time high for the decade, fund managers are demanding an increasingly deeper and more insightful level of analytics, in similar and efficient ways to those used for equities," said Tim Miller, solutions manager for Anova Performance, DST.
Tbricks offers fully managed trading service
Trading solutions firm Tbricks will launch a new automated trading solution with native connectivity, DMA or normalised market data, which will connect to major cash and derivatives exchanges, multilateral trading facilities and brokers.
Tbricks OnDemand will be powered by QuantLINK and QuantFEED from S&P Capital IQ's Real Time solutions, and has been developed with co-location in mind for traders and market makers.
"Offering Tbricks as a managed service enables our clients to focus exclusively on their core business and leaving all maters concerning their technology infrastructure to us," said Jonas Hansbo, CEO, Tbricks. "By using Tbricks as a managed service supplier, out clients benefit forma greatly reduced need for internal technology resources, reduced operational risk and time to market benefits."
INDATA's iPM Cloud gains US asset manager
Buy-side software provider INDATA has onboarded Pittsburgh asset manager Janney Capital Management to its portfolio management platform, iPM Cloud.
The cloud-based solution uses the firm's proprietary data model and can be accessed by clients anywhere, with information protected by hardware security measures.
"In addition to improving data management, compliance and disaster recover capabilities, one of the benefits of a cloud platform is the ability effectively access mission-critical systems from different locations," said David J Csiki, managing director, INDATA.
SunGard's Hedge360 selected by MST Capital
SunGard's Hedge360 has been chosen by Australian global macro hedge fund MST Capital as its front-to-back office investment management suite.
The system will offer analysis, trading, portfolio and risk management of OTC and exchange-traded derivatives and securities in real-time. It is a cloud-based solution that will help portfolio managers customise risk, IT and reporting requirements.
"Crucial to us was the ability to choose tailored components of the investment management suite to meet our specific requirements. The breadth of SunGard's asset coverage, its unified team support across all the solutions and complete technology outsourcing and security, combined to make Hedge360 our top choice," said Les Andrews, COO, MST Capital.