Alternative Data Gives Asset Managers Investing Edge

Some 71% of asset managers believe alternative data gives them an investing edge over competitors, according to a study by Greenwich Associates commissioned by IHS Markit. Around half of investment managers are using alternative data with another quarter planning to do so in the next 12 months, according to the research. Nearly 30% of quantitative funds attribute at least 20% of their alpha to alternative data, while 42% of asset managers believe the alpha edge they achieve using alternative data lasts at least four years. For practitioners, the tools to analyse the data are as important as the data.

Accuity Offers Sentiment-Based Research Terminal on MetaQuotes Platform

Acuity Trading, a provider of AI data-driven trading tools, has released a sentiment-based research terminal, essentially a news data solution based on MetaQuotes MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. The terminal augments existing services offered on MT4 and is the

springboard for Acuity’s services on MT5. Users of the terminal on MT4 or 5 can access financial news, calendar, sentiment data and Acuity’s unique AI-driven Market Alerts tool in a single expert advisor. By integrating the terminal product with the platforms, traders are able to conduct trade research within the platforms. The terminal also includes the ability to launch trade tickets.

LCH RepoClear Selects UnaVista as Trade Repository for SFTR Reporting

LCH RepoClear has selected UnaVista as its trade repository for reporting under Securities Financing Transaction Regulation (SFTR). LCH Group’s collateral and liquidity management function will also use UnaVista for SFTR reporting. The regulation is scheduled to go live in April 2020 and will require firms to report details of their Securities Financing Transactions (SFTs) to an approved trade repository. The regulation is designed to increase transparency, allowing regulatory authorities to assess the risks associated with these transactions. UnaVista will offer assisted reporting to LCH RepoClear members.

Shield Adds Surveillance for Microsoft Teams

RegTech provider Shield Financial Compliance has integrated its platform with Microsoft Teams, a chat room and team collaboration solution in Office 365 that integrates people, content and tools. The integration provides full surveillance of Microsoft Teams and records and searches interactions, providing the ability to extract, review and analyse specific conversations to assist with investigation processes. The solution delivers out-of-the-box integration with Microsoft Teams, ability to build detection scenario models to include all Microsoft Teams e-comms types and detect misconduct behaviour, and alerts and reviews of Microsoft Teams content.

Finnish Asset Manager Evli Goes Live on IHS Markit thinkFolio

Evli, a Finnish investment and asset management specialist, has gone live on thinkFolio, IHS Markit’s order management and portfolio modelling system. The multi-asset class support provided by thinkFolio was the driving factor in Evli’s decision to implement the solution. The asset manager is using thinkFolio’s full front office functionality across order management, portfolio modelling, cash management and foreign exchange, trading and compliance. Evli is also implementing the IHS Markit Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) platform for equities and fixed income. TCA aims to enhance Evli’s trading-related execution quality management and streamline performance-based order routing.

Fund Administrator Extends StatPro Contract

Another win for StatPro, this time a three-year contract with a top 20 fund administrator for Revolution. The minimum contract value is £2.44 million. The fund administrator currently uses Revolution to provide services to over 30 clients for performance, attribution and risk. This contract extension demonstrates its renewed commitment to Revolution and future expansion of the services available on the Revolution platform, including fixed income risk and attribution.

Red Box Partners Theta Lake to Detect Voice Compliance Risks

Red Box, a voice specialist, has partnered Theta Lake, a provider of compliance artificial intelligence (AI) for video, voice, and unified digital communication. The partnership allows Red Box customers to use Theta’s purpose-built AI and deep learning powered software to automatically detect compliance risks in their recordings and reduce the cost and complexity of managing corporate compliance and regulatory requirements to retain and review digital content. Red Box voice capture across all telephony systems enables Theta’s platform to leverage enterprise wide recordings and apply natural language processing and deep learning to automate detection of regulatory and corporate compliance risks.

Mada Capital Selects Profile’s Axia for Wealth and Fund Management Operations

Profile Software’s Axia has been selected by Mada Capital and Mada Financial Services, subsidiaries of Dubai-based investment firm Primavis Capital, to support wealth and fund management operations. The firm assessed a number of potential solutions on the basis of criteria – including innovative technology, scalability, modern design and breadth of functionality – that were considered important to automating processes, delivering unique user and client experiences and producing comprehensive reporting. Axia will enable Primavis’ subsidiaries to manage wealth and fund management services under a single, web-based platform, using the omni-device capabilities and widgets available on the dashboard.

StatPro Signs €1.2 Million Contract

StatPro, a provider of cloud-based portfolio analytics and asset pricing services for the global asset management industry, has secured a three-year contract, including a significant uplift in annual value, with a EU investment manager for Revolution Delta. The minimum contract value is €1.2 million. The investment manager uses Revolution Delta, StatPro’s flagship fixed income service, for a variety of purposes and has now added a module to cover EU Money Market Regulations and support risk reporting to the regulator.

Fenergo Partners To Build National KYC Utility for Bahrain

The Kingdom of Bahrain plans to improve client onboarding and minimise fraud through a partnership with Fenergo. Bahrain’s Electronic Network for Financial Transactions is working with Fenergo to implement a national KYC utility. The solution verifies customer identity via biometric identity and verification technology that links to Bahrain’s national identity card data before connecting to the eKYC hub, which determines required KYC and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) data and documentation for customer due diligence as required by Central Bank of Bahrain. Once customers are onboard, Fenergo writes data attestations to a blockchain for reuse by other financial institutions within the ecosystem.