Markit Confirms Details of General Atlantic Acquisition of 7.5% Stake
US-based private equity firm General Atlantic has acquired a 7.5% stake in pricing and valuations supplier Markit, which is currently majority owned by a consortium of sell side and buy side firms, in return for a US$250 million investment in the company. A spokesperson from Markit confirms the details of the deal, which values the...
S&P’s Eccleston Discusses Decision Behind Formation of New Valuation & Risk Strategies Group
The recent restructuring of Standard & Poor’s Fixed Income Risk Management Services (FIRMS) division to combine its securities evaluations, valuations services and market research teams into one group is all part of the vendor’s strategy to provide a more joined up approach to the market, explains Lou Eccleston, FIRMS’ executive managing director, to Reference Data Review....
Advent Software Announces Release of Axys 3.8
Advent Software, a provider of software and services for the global investment management industry, today announced the release of Axys 3.8, an important update to Advent’s turnkey portfolio accounting and reporting solution. The latest release of Axys marks Advent’s continued commitment to keeping the platform current as technology and regulatory changes impact its client base....
Pricing Partners and Pyxis Systems Sign Agreement on Price-it Online Distribution in India
Pricing Partners announced today that Pyxis Systems, a provider of technology solutions and services to the global financial derivatives industry, has chosen its revaluation platform Price-it Online to address their requirements in performing independent revaluation of complex OTC derivatives for a rapidly growing Indian market. This agreement is the first of what hopes to be...
Numerix to Provide Pricing Models for Thomson Reuters Risk Management Software Suite
Numerix, a provider of cross-asset analytics for the structuring, valuation and risk analysis of derivatives and structured products, today announced Thomson Reuters will extend Numerix’s vanilla – exotics pricing solutions and risk analytics in Thomson Reuters Kondor+ Suite and TopOffice solutions. Financial service firms using Thomson Reuters Kondor + Suite to build and trade structured...
Stop Press: General Atlantic Buys ‘Significant’ Stake in Bank-Owned Markit
Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity firm General Atlantic has acquired a “significant” minority stake in bank-owned pricing and valuations supplier Markit in return for a “substantial equity investment” in the company. While the size of the stake wasn’t disclosed, it’s significant enough to warrant a board seat for General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford. The General Atlantic...
Pricing Transparency and Liquidity Risk are Top of Investors’ List of Concerns, Says SEI Survey
Institutional investors investing in the hedge fund market are more concerned about issues around pricing transparency and liquidity risk than ever before, according to a recent survey conducted by investment management solution vendor SEI and consultancy firm Greenwich Associates. These issues have even surpassed concerns over poor performance of these funds, says Phil Masterson, managing...
EACH Publishes CCP Risk Management Recommendations
EACH, the European Association of Central Counterparty Clearing Houses, has published its Supplementary Risk Recommendations. This document is the result of work undertaken by EACH risk experts since the finalisation of the ESCB-CESR Recommendations and provides further guidance concerning voluntary enhancements to CCPs’ risk management. The preparing of these recommendations demonstrates EACH’s strong commitment to...
Callable and Putable Bonds added to SIX Telekurs’ Fair Value Pricing Service
SIX Telekurs has enhanced its Fair Value Pricing Service by adding a new asset class and hence increasing the number of instruments covered to over 110,000 investment grade fixed income securities. SIX Telekurs is a provider of international financial data. Its Fair Value Pricing Service offers analytically calculated prices for roughly 110,000 investment grade fixed...
UK FSA’s Turner Talks up the Data Challenges of Altering Accounting Standards
There is a degree of tension between those seeking to reflect the “truth” with changes to accounting standards and those wishing to reflect the concerns of prudential regulators, according to UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) chairman Adair Turner. In a speech last week to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), Turner...