Middle Eastern asset management and investment banking firm Markaz has completed the rollout of Fincad Analytics for its derivatives pricing and analytics. The firm, which is based in the Kuwait Financial Centre, has implemented the solution as part of its wider plans to build options trading and technology infrastructure for the Kuwait Stock Exchange.
Hussein Zineddine, assistant vice president of equity derivatives and structured products at Markaz, explains that the Fincad Analytics Suite for Developers is now being used as the firm’s web-enabled derivative pricing engine for standardised exchange traded options. “With its breadth of coverage, Fincad Analytics enable us to manage valuations of various trades of both conventional and Islamic financial structures,” he adds.
Fincad Analytics Suite for Excel is being used to value structured products and after hours and OTC trading. The valuations from both systems are then used in Markaz’s trading execution, risk management, control and back office systems, says the firm.
Fincad has had a busy start to the year with both the release of a new version of its analytics suite and an upgrade of its web-based value at risk (VaR) calculation and scenario analysis testing solution for derivatives, The Perfect Hedge, last month. The valuations and analytics vendor community has increased significantly over the last 12 months and vendors such as Fincad have been upping their game accordingly to fend off their new rivals.
