Portfolio analytics and data solution vendor StatPro has experienced a positive start to 2009, with the posting of a 19% increase in revenue on last year’s figures for the first half of the year. At a time when so many other vendors are struggling, it seems that strong renewals and new sales have buoyed the vendor’s bottom lines to a higher level than expected. In order to strengthen its market position further still, StatPro has added ex-president and CEO of Interactive Data and data stalwart Stuart Clark to its non-executive team.
According to Carl Bacon, chairman of StatPro, the vendor is hoping that Clark’s long experience in the data management industry will assist in its aggressive expansion plans. “Stuart Clark is a high profile executive in our marketplace and his experience, especially in the area of financial data, analytics and solutions will add great value to StatPro,” he says.
Clark certainly has the experience to put to good use: he’s been in the financial information industry since 1968. He worked for Interactive Data for 14 years in various senior positions and was on its board of directors for nine of those years. As president and CEO, he successfully led the company’s expansion into new markets and saw revenues double over the nine year period to US$750 million.
Prior to Interactive Data, he was director of UK-based Financial Times Information, part of the Pearson group, with specific responsibility for the Market Data Division for a period of two years. Before this, he led the market data division of Extel Financial Limited, which was acquired by Pearson’s Financial Times Group in December 1993.
Clark is one of the data gurus shortlisted for this year’s lifetime achievement award from the Financial Information Services Division (FISD) of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), which is due to be announced in October. Also in the running are Joseph Kasputys, founder and chairman of IHS Global Insight, and Eugen Niesper, the ex-CEO of SIX Telekurs (pre-rebrand). Given his long years of service to the data industry and his well publicised successes, Clark seems a likely candidate as any to walk away with the title.
Turning to StatPro, it seems the vendor is also set for a busy and profitable year and has been aggressively expanding its on the ground presence in key areas of the market. In June, the vendor added ex-broker Tim Dennis as its new European sales director to lead its new strategy of providing outsourced data and analytics. The vendor’s software as a service (SaaS) models for its client services portal and its complex financial assets valuations offering, both launched last November, have proved popular over recent months. The vendor’s last publicly announced client win for the SaaS suite was a multi-year deal with Ridgewood Capital Asset Management (RCAM) last month.
