Schroders Uses Xceptor to Consolidate Applications and Automate Operations

Schroders has selected the Xceptor data automation platform for a range of core business use cases including cash flow data handling and customer onboarding. The investment management firm initially used Xceptor to process incoming transfer agency cashflows into its investment book of record, Blackrock Aladdin. The firm’s expanded use of the platform across operations provides operational resilience and efficiencies through data automation and end-to-end process transformation for business users.

Peter Hilborne, chief operating officer, operations at Schroders, comments: “The initial phases we entrusted to Xceptor comprised critical business functions that the platform handled exceptionally well. By consolidating all other applications into Xceptor, we have radically transformed how we process and automate data.”

Deutsche Börse Announces Final Tender Result for Takeover of SimCorp

Deutsche Börse has announced the final tender result for its public takeover of SimCorp. Including open market purchases, Deutsche Börse now holds approximately 94% of all SimCorp shares, excluding SimCorp’s treasury shares. The offer is expected to be settled and closed on 29 September 2023. Deutsche Börse will seek to initiate and complete a compulsory acquisition of the SimCorp shares held by the remaining minority shareholders as soon as possible and have SimCorp shares removed from the official listing on Nasdaq Copenhagen.

Brightwell Selects Duco’s Data Automation Platform

Brightwell, a defined benefit services provider, has selected Duco’s data automation platform as part of its target operating model transformation. The platform will be used in Duco’s investment operations department to replace an inflexible legacy system that was limiting the firm’s growth and will enable Brightwell to normalise data and consolidate reconciliations for FX, OTC and ETD derivatives, fixed income and cash balances as trading volumes grow. Features such as advanced filters, transaction rollup rules, conditional rules and the Data Prep module will also help Brightwell reduce the number of exceptions, allow them to build complex matching rules, and bring down the number of false positives.

China’s E Fund Expands Collaboration with Bloomberg

E Fund Management Co. Ltd., one of the largest fund management companies in China, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand its collaboration with Bloomberg. The expansion will cover areas including financial information, technology and climate change, and is designed to assist E Fund in accelerating its global development.

Xiaoyan Liu, co-chairman of the board and CEO of E Fund, says: “E Fund has been consistently advancing its global development strategy, aiming to provide global clients with better products and services. We are pleased to be working with Bloomberg to create long-term, sustainable value for our investors.”

Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg, adds: “China’s increasing integration with global capital markets has significance for investors everywhere. We’re glad to support China’s leading financial institutions as they expand.”

KX Adds kdb Insights and kdb Insights Enterprise to Google Cloud Marketplace

KX, a providers of vector and time-series data management, has announced the native availability of kdb Insights and kdb Insights Enterprise on Google Cloud Marketplace. This is a significant milestone in KX’s partnership with Google Cloud and will allow customers to accelerate AI, machine learning, IoT automation, and generative AI-powered applications on Google Cloud.

Ashok Reddy, CEO at KX, says: “Combining our real time analytics and our vector database with the elasticity and scalability of Google Cloud infrastructure will help enterprises rapidly accelerate their journey towards more real time and effective business decision making.”

SDX Adopts Digital Token Identifier

SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) had become the first private distributed ledger technology (DLT) based financial market infrastructure to adopt the Digital Token Identifier Foundation’s ISO 24165 Digital Token Identifier (DTI) standard. The DTI standard provides a unique identifier for digital ledgers, tokens, and cryptocurrencies, and has been recommended by ESMA as a risk management measure for the EU’s DLT Pilot programme.

Moody’s Analytics Wins Contract to Fight Financial Crime in European Union

Moody’s Analytics has won a framework contract worth up to €34 million from the European Commission to strengthen its anti-fraud, money laundering and financial crime effort. The four-year contract will be managed by the Commission’s European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and will use the Orbis database operated by Bueau van Dijk, a Moody’s Analytics subsidiary, to access company data, information on connected individuals, and risk indicators.

Organisations working with the Orbis data will include the European Court of Auditors, European Banking Authority, European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Europol and up to 30 Directorate Generals of the EC. They will apply the data to form a comprehensive understanding of the increasing threat of fraud and financial crime in the EU.

With Intelligence Plans Growth Acceleration Following Investment by Motive Partners

With Intelligence, a provider of investment data and intelligence for allocating, fund-raising and business development in the public and private markets, has received a majority investment from funds advised by Motive Partners, a private equity firm focused on financial technology. Intermediate Capital Group, which originally invested in With Intelligence in 2020, will invest further alongside Motive.

The company plans to use the investment to accelerate growth as it focuses on delivering leading connectivity, data and insights solutions to the limited partner and general partner communities. Founded in 1998, With Intelligence is a provider of data, intelligence and connectivity to the global asset management industry, with an integrated product suite of data, insights and events covering hedge funds, private credit, private equity, real estate and traditional asset management.

Capco Partners Pyramid Analytics to Simplify Decision Making

Capco, a Wipro technology and management consultancy dedicated to financial services, has partnered Pyramid Analytics, a business analytics and decision intelligence platform provider, to help financial institutions simplify decision-making through AI-augmented, automated, and collaborative insights. The partnership brings together Capco’s financial services experience and expertise in data and analytics with Pyramid’s strategic, enterprise-wide approach to business intelligence. Pyramid’s Decision Intelligence Platform offers a low-code/no-code solution to data preparation, business analytics, data science, and machine learning, empowering faster, more intelligent decisions.

Decision Makers Turn to Cloud-Based Data Management

Some 59% of senior managers and directors in financial services are using cloud-based data for portfolio management. Additional use cases include risk management, collateral management and internal data marketplaces, according to research commissioned by Alveo and conducted in April among investment managers, asset owners, banks and insurance companies across the UK, US and Asia-Pacific.

With growth in cloud commitment continuing, the research noted that many firms are adopting a range of cloud-based data practices, with 56% carrying out new internal application development using cloud native components and architecture, and 34% rearchitecting existing internal applications.