StatPro Group has launched a new software as a service (SaaS) offering for the pricing of complex financial assets. The new system covers instruments that the vendor describes as needing a complex valuation model and traded market data to be priced, including interest rate swaps, credit default swaps on single names and baskets, FX forwards and equity options.
According to the vendor, its complex asset pricing (CAP) service offers a pricing challenge process that allows clients to query the price that they receive using what it calls a “fully transparent” approach. Dario Cintioli, global head of risk at StatPro, elaborates: “The price challenge is unique in the market. Other companies provide pricing data, but we can take the mystery away from the process. The purpose of a price challenge is to understand the origin of a difference between pricing sources. The price challenge then allows the client to act based on reliable information.”
The service is aimed at performance teams, valuation teams, auditors and back office staff at large or small investment management firms, custodians and hedge funds if they are managing, administering or are investing in assets of a complex nature, says the vendor. Other instruments will be added in early 2009, including equity certificates and FX options.
The vendor says that the service uses multiple sources for input data, along with QuantLib2, StatPro’s own proprietary financial library in order to ensure independence. Justin Wheatley, CEO at StatPro, adds: “It’s about bringing transparency and clarity into the pricing process and delivering true valuations.”
