Data Management Insight Brief
SS&C upgrades Advent solutions
SS&C Technologies has released version 19.1 of its Advent portfolio management solutions. The Advent products, acquired in 2015, include Advent Portfolio Exchange (APX), a portfolio accounting and reporting solution that includes a new API for portfolios and token-based authentication capabilities. APX regulatory reporting is also improved. Advent Genesis, a cloud-based rebalancing, portfolio construction and trade creation platform, includes gain/loss calculations on proposed orders allowing users to monitor tax impacts, additional views for model comparisons and exposure analysis, and ability to allocate cash based on model targets. Advent Lumis, a data governance tool for Geneva, features new Rule Builder functionality.
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.
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.
Oktris Offers MiFID II Transparency Reporting Services
Start-up regulatory reporting firm Oktris is offering MiFID II services beyond transaction and post-trade reporting with software-as-a-service solutions covering transparency calculation data reporting, instrument reference data reporting, and best execution reporting. The company also provides an ESMA and FCA Financial Instruments Reference Data System (FIRDS) solution that automates the task of taking large datasets from UK and EU regulators and puts the data in a database that can be queried and integrated with other financial systems. The company’s first client is a trading venue using the Oktris FIRDS and best execution services.
Accuity Adds AI to Financial Crime Compliance Screening
Accuity has introduced an AI-driven account screening capability, Firco Automated Alert Reduction, aimed to increase accuracy in detecting and evaluating screening matches during Know Your Customer (KYC) processes. The solution results from Accuity’s acquisition of Safe Banking Systems in July 2018 and has been optimised through integration with WorldCompliance data. Rather than leaning on manual processes and managing an abundance of false positives, the Firco solution applies AI techniques to potential matches produced by screening systems and includes a scoring methodology that calculates the probability of a match being correct and evaluates how material the risk is to the business.
Saxo Bank and Brown Advisory Cooperate to Offer Ethical Stocks to SaxoSelect Clients
Saxo Bank, a fintech focused on multi-asset trading and investment, and Brown Advisory, a global investment manager with a history in sustainable investing, have cooperated to add a digital investment portfolio, Ethical Selection, to the SaxoSelect universe. The portfolio offers a cost-effective way to invest in a sustainable, all-cap, 30-40 stock portfolio comprising US listed companies. Brown Advisory’s research goes beyond negative screening and evaluates every company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) attributes to maintain a focus on companies that use sustainability drivers to add value to shareholders.
Regional Banks Join KY3P Initiative Aimed at Standardising Vendor Due Diligence
A group of 12 regional banks has invested in KY3P, a company working with the financial industry to minimise the burden of responding to duplicative due diligence requests from financial institutions. The group adds to existing design partners Barclays, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Morgan Stanley and UBS. KY3P was initiated by IHS Markit in 2015 and offers a central, cloud-based platform for vendor onboarding, collection and verification of due diligence data and vendor risk monitoring covering a range of third parties, including vendors, affiliates, sub-advisors, distributors, clearinghouses and other service providers in the financial industry.
Style Analytics and Sustainalytics Integrate ESG Data in Skyline
Style Analytics, a factor-based analysis software provider, has made a distribution agreement with Sustainalytics, an ESG research, ratings, and analysis firm, to offer ESG considerations to investors. Customers will have access to a portfolio level view of Sustainalytics’ company ESG data using Style Analytics’ Skyline product. As a result, investors will gain perspective into the company level exposures of their portfolios. Bob Mann, president and chief operating officer at Sustainalytics, says investors will have more insight into the ESG risk factors their funds are exposed to based on their underlying holdings and how these factors could impact their risk-return profile.