Linedata, Alpha Omega form alliance on post- trade processing solutions

Linedata, the global solutions provider dedicated to the investment management and credit industries, and Alpha Omega Financial Systems, provider of FIX protocol based post-trade software solutions, have formed a partnership which will provide buy side clients with another alternative to supportin

via Pocket http://www.theasset.com/article.php?news=TA&id=24643 July 09, 2013 at 07:25PM

SmartStream partner with Alliance Factors to further support the Russian market

SmartStream Technologies, the financial Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced a partnership with Alliance Factors, a financial services solutions provider and SWIFT service bureau, based in Russia – to meet the demands of a growing client base in the region.

via Pocket http://www.bobsguide.com//guide/news/2013/Jun/11/smartstream-partner-with-alliance-factors-to-further-support-the-russian-market.html June 15, 2013 at 07:33PM

The Modern Portfolio Manager Cockpit: Front-to-Back Portfolio and Risk Management

The Modern Portfolio Manager Cockpit: Front-to-Back Portfolio and Risk Management

http://tabbforum.com/opinions/the-modern-portfolio-manager-cockpit-front-to-back-portfolio-and-risk-management?utm_source=TabbFORUM+Alerts&utm_campaign=2a789f8e07-UA-12160392-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_29f4b8f8f1-2a789f8e07-271568421

In search of alpha, firms and investors are adding new asset classes and markets to their portfolios. But the buy side needs a system that can provide portfolio managers, regulators and investors with the required visibility into these products.
Investment management firms are facing a new reality. The current low-yield environment is forcing hedge funds and traditional asset managers to reach for innovative strategies in search of new sources of alpha. Constrained by increased volatility in major asset classes and lower expected returns over the long term, asset managers and their clients need to diversify their portfolios while reducing operational risk and improving compliance with global regulations.

To increase returns and avoid sharp losses, firms and investors are looking to diversify their portfolios, adding new assets where needed. There has been a great increase in alternative investments in recent years from traditional asset managers, showing the rising appetite for asset classes that have a proven track record in delivering returns.

[Related: “How to Build a Modern hedge Fund”]

The growing investments into emerging markets are another key example of asset class expansion. Investment firms require trading support in order to adhere to local market conventions across all geographical regions, particularly in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. However, it is important for buy-side firms looking to invest in new asset classes or geographies that the system they use can handle these products with the required level of transparency and reporting mandated by regulators and investors.

Finally, as firms are trying to differentiate themselves to attract new inflows, there is a renewed focus for liability-driven investments and, more generally, outcome-based solutions. Plan sponsors are under duress and are showing appetite for such solutions. From the investment manager perspective, this reinforces the need for detailed, across-the-board exposure analysis and hedging functionality – in systems capable and scalable enough to follow the growth in volumes and complexity.

Total Visibility

The modern portfolio manager needs visibility, above all. Standalone legacy systems may not provide portfolio managers with what they need in this regard. In order to be effective, having a consolidated view of all positions and assets and being able to see P&L and exposures in real time is imperative.

More important, there is currently a shift of functionality from the back office to the front office. Collateral management, for example, is now no longer a post-trade process. Portfolio managers want to understand the impact of their trades on margin calls, or the impact of market movements on their projected cash. Investment accounting is also becoming more intertwined in the trade decision-making process – managers want to know in real time how a certain trade impacts their accounting P&L.

Finally, and more than ever, it is important for them to be able to simulate new assets and products to evaluate their impact on risk. Sensitivities, VaR and stress testing are key contributors to this analysis and to efficient portfolio management. Portfolios are becoming more complex and market conditions are more volatile, hence the need for integrated risk management in the investment decision process.

Global Regulatory Compliance

Since the financial crisis, and even in the years before that, there has been a rapid institutionalization of the hedge fund and asset management market. The pressure on compliance officers is considerable given the unprecedented amount of current and future regulatory activity, including UCITS, AIFMD, EMIR, MiFID and Dodd-Frank. Sophisticated investors are now demanding better reporting and deeper transparency from their investment managers, and increasingly perform in-depth operational due diligence. Regulators are also demanding greater transparency in risk management and reporting.

While looking to minimize the operational efforts to produce the reports, there are business opportunities for firms looking to attract new capital by following the “labels” of regulations and providing their investors with guarantees of compliance to best practices in investment management.

In addition, siloed business activities can create a higher risk of operational inefficiency. Today’s risk officers require consistent data and transparency across all of the organization’s business lines and need to be able to consolidate all the risks that might impact the organization. End-to-end integration and straight-through processing (STP) for central clearing are a big help in that area, as well.

Of note, another factor to consider is the increasing demand for managed accounts over the past few years. The financial crisis has left many investors nervous about comingled assets. Many now want their assets to be segregated. The operational burden of doing so can be significant.

Of course, costs are a big issue at a time when inflows are relatively low and margins are squeezed. Firms can benefit from a single, integrated system that covers all asset classes and is modular, with functionality that can be added on-demand with ease and has no redundancy. Hedge funds and traditional asset managers don’t want to have to develop their IT infrastructure themselves and want to rationalize the number of systems or interfaces. They expect service providers to develop new functionality to enable them to find alpha and grow, be more efficient, and meet regulatory challenges.

BNY Mellon unveils new intraday liquidity analytics service

BNY Mellon’s treasury services group has launched Intraday Liquidity Analytics. The new electronic e-banking offering aims to help corporate clients and other investors address liquidity transparency and intraday overdraft coverage requirements under the Basel III capital adequacy regime.

via Pocket http://www.bobsguide.com/guide/news/2013/May/13/bny-mellon-unveils-new-intraday-liquidity-analytics-service.html May 16, 2013 at 07:47PM

DealHub’s regulatory reporting solutions go live

http://www.automatedtrader.net/news/automated-trading-news/142546/dealhubs-regulatory-reporting-solutions-go-liveFirst Published Monday, 22nd April 2013 from Automated Trader : Automated Trading News

DealHub regulatory solutions help banks address Dodd Frank challenges and prepare for EMIR deadlines

London – DealHub (Option Computers Ltd) has announced that its regulatory solutions, including DealHub Smart Reporting, are live at multiple tier one and two banks, helping them comply with new Dodd Frank Regulations and providing a framework for handling other regulatory jurisdictions, including up-coming EMIR legislation in Europe.

DealHub CEO, Peter Kriskinans, said “Banks and Brokers are faced with an overwhelming amount of change this year, as new regulations roll-out. Our expertise across the full trading workflow has given us a unique ability to solve a very wide range of the resulting challenges for our customers – from streaming mid-prices, to real-time trade reporting. We’ve been successful because we’re deeply integrated into our customer’s infrastructure, with highly customised components that take into account their unique requirements – we’re offering all the advantages of bespoke solutions, with the convenience of a managed service that takes away the pain of all these regulatory upgrades.”

DealHub regulatory solutions fall into four main categories:

• Trading connectivity, that incorporates new regulatory requirements, including streaming of mid-rates to trading platforms

• STP connectivity, that captures or enriches tickets with all new regulatory codes, including the Unique Swap Identifier (USI) and Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)

• DealHub Smart Reporting, that handles the complete trade reporting lifecycle, including connectivity to trade repositories and clearing houses, such as the DTCC and CME, as well as complex workflow such as alleged trade matching

• Trade archiving solutions, to meet new ‘business conduct’ rules, consolidating data records from every step in the trade lifecycle, from price negotiation, right through to final settlement

“Over the last year, we’ve worked very closely with our customers, and with industry bodies, to interpret regulations and build solutions that work seamlessly with existing infrastructures, protecting them from disruptive change. Although the Dodd Frank deadline has passed, we are continuing to help banks close gaps in their workflow where in-house and 3rd party solutions have fallen short on day one, while implementing new rules for up-coming EMIR deadlines” commented Chris Leaver, DealHub COO.

Transact chooses Calastone’s re-registration solution

http://www.automatedtrader.net/news/automated-trading-news/142479/transact-chooses-calastones-re_registration-solution

First Published Monday, 15th April 2013 from Automated Trader : Automated Trading News

Integrated Financial Arrangement, operator of Transact wrap service, selects Calastone for electronic, interoperable re-registration solution

 

London – Calastone, the transaction network, has been selected by Transact to provide it with a fully interoperable, electronic re-registration solution.

Transact, along with a number of other organisations, took part in the original working group to develop the Calastone re-registration service, and has now chosen the solution to automate its own re-registration process.

Under FSA regulations it is compulsory for platforms to offer re-registration of assets. Whilst these regulations do not stipulate that this process must be automated, it is widely acknowledged that an electronic straight through processing (STP) solution is preferable. Calastone’s solution gives the market the ability to move towards same day re-registration.

The service, based on the requirements of a wide range of market participants as identified in the working group, enables the transfer of legal title in fund units between nominees. It enables STP for “in specie” transfer of assets and provides full visibility to all parties during the lifecycle of the transfer.

Calastone’s re-registration solution allows distributors, platforms and fund managers to automate the transfer of assets. Additionally, Calastone will be able to communicate client re-registration instructions to other market participants not on the Calastone Network thus enabling Calastone clients to obtain full market coverage via an interoperable model.

Ian Taylor, CEO of Integrated Financial Arrangements, said: “Calastone has a strong track-record of delivering flexible and scalable solutions that help to reduce risk and costs without requiring additional software spend. It has worked with different sectors of the market in order to deliver a product that is effective, easy to use and enables market participants to communicate with each other in order to automate the processes of re-registration. We welcome the fact that someone has delivered a cost effective system that can transfer legal title in seconds. This can only be a good thing for the end investor.”

Dan Llewellyn, Managing Director for Product at Calastone, said: “We are very grateful for the support of Transact which is one of our key customers, and are fortunate to have such a proactive client base that is always pressing us to deliver new services to help automate business processes. Electronic re-registration has been proven and we are keen to expand the service to other customers in the UK and other domiciles. Phase two of the Calastone re-registration service is to enable our clients the ability to transfer other asset classes including equities, pensions, bonds and SIPPS .”

SGX adds Trayport hosted clearing link to aid post-trade process

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has added Trayport’s hosted Clearing Link solution to its roster of clearing options for its community of traders. The aim is to support real-time straight through processing (STP) for over the counter (OTC) cleared markets.

via Pocket http://www.bobsguide.com//guide/news/2012/Apr/19/sgx-adds-trayport-hosted-clearing-link-to-aid-post-trade-process.html April 07, 2013 at 05:42PM

TraderTools Connects with MarkitSERV for Post-Trade STP to Enhance its LightFX™ SaaS Deployments

Customers of TraderTools’ next-generation hosted FX trading service to benefit from MarkitSERV’s award-winning STP connectivity TraderTools Inc.

via Pocket http://www.bobsguide.com//guide/news/2013/Apr/3/tradertools-connects-with-markitserv-for-post-trade-stp-to-enhance-its-lightfxtm-saas-deployments.html April 04, 2013 at 06:20PM

Swiss BPO provider, Oddo, specifies SmartStream for risk and reconciliation

Oddo Services Switzerland, a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) provider owned by the French bank Oddo & Cie which has many corporate and finance clients that need to conduct reconciliation and risk procedures, is installing SmartStream’s TLM Corona software to offer this service.

via Pocket http://www.bobsguide.com//guide/news/2013/Apr/4/swiss-bpo-provider-oddo-specifies-smartstream-for-risk-and-reconciliation.html April 04, 2013 at 06:15PM

FfastFill hooks up to Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange

Through the completion of conformance testing to HKMEx post-trade gateways, trades can now be auto-allocated within the SEALS middle office application and uploaded in real-time into Eclipse for clearing and settlement.

via Pocket http://www.finextra.com/News/Announcement.aspx?pressreleaseid=49025 March 20, 2013 at 09:11PM