If further proof was needed of the importance of reference data management to the risk function, the news that risk management solution provider Algorithmics has decided to invest in a new core reference data engine should provide it. Algorithmics has signed up for First Derivatives’ Delta Reference Data Factory, which the vendor acquired along with RDF back in October last year, in order to feed its risk management systems with accurate, cleansed reference data.
It is the first sale of an RDF solution by First Derivatives since it acquired the vendor and its portfolio for an estimated US$10 million in October 2009. Dale Richards, who was recently appointed president of First Derivatives’ Americas operations, reckons the deal is validation of the newly integrated solution and the overall First Derivatives reference data portfolio. Accordingly, Delta Reference Data Factory is the flagship solution and is an open platform for managing reference data with off the shelf and configurable feed handlers, data model/transformation engine and distribution/enrichment suite.
As predicted by Reference Data Review back in October, the fate of RDF seems to have improved since its acquisition and, with a larger organisation at the helm, it has managed to benefit from a higher public profile. After all, RDF only had two offices and was founded in 2004, whereas First Derivatives has been in the market for 13 years and has nine operational centres across the globe.
The deal between the vendors is not unusual in the current market, with many vendors opting to invest in their core data management systems in order to meet the requirements of their customers and the market at large. In September last year, for example, ITG signed up for Asset Control’s AC Plus solution to act as its centralised reference data and pricing architecture.
As noted by Rick Enfield, product business owner of the AC Plus solution at the time: “There is potentially a large customer base in the vendors and they are facing the same data management challenges as the rest of the market.”
Given this fact and the incoming regulatory onslaught, one can expect to hear many more of these deals being signed over the next couple of years.
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