Buy-Side Technology Awards 2013: Best Overall Buy-Side Product for 2013—LCH.Clearnet

The penultimate category of the Buy-Side Technology Awards 2013, the best buy-side product of the year, was the first of only two awards announced on the day of the BST Awards luncheon on November 1 in London. Each of the 26 individual category winners was considered for this award, and, like the final award of the program for best overall technology provider to the buy side for 2013, it was decided by the four Waters journalists sitting on the BST Awards judging panel: James Rundle, Jake Thomases, Anthony Malakian and Victor Anderson.

This year, LCH.Clearnet joins past recipients Markit (2008), Algorithmics and Fidessa (2009), Cadis (2010), SmartStream (2011), and Advise Technologies (2012), in the winners’ circle of the most prestigious product category of the awards, thanks to its SwapClear Margin Approximation Risk Tool (Smart), which, earlier in the day, won the best risk/portfolio analytics, and best risk management initiative over the last 12 months categories.

In terms of awards, this year has been a successful one for LCH.Clearnet, born in 2003 through the merger of the London Clearing House and Paris-based Clearnet: Its three wins in this year’s BST Awards come on the back of its success in the best sell-side market risk product category at this year’s inaugural Sell-Side Technology Awards held in New York on April 23. However, given the challenges facing both buy-side and sell-side firms when it comes to calculating their initial margin requirements—the percentage of the total market value of a security paid for in cash by an investor—it’s not hard to see why. After all, Smart is designed specifically to eliminate the guesswork in this respect, by providing users with what amounts to “what-if” functionality to calculate how their initial margin requirements will be affected by simulated trades on an individual or portfolio-wide basis. This helps users extrapolate reliable, repeatable and transparent initial margin calculations, allowing them to simulate portfolio risk exposure in real time. Crucially, Smart is available via three delivery mechanisms: on users’ desktops, through code-library integration with clients’ applications, and via the Bloomberg Professional Service, flexibility that both buy-side and sell-side firms now expect from their service providers.

LCH.Clearnet Reaction:
“We’re delighted to win three awards for the Smart tool, which reflect the recognition and support we are receiving from the buy-side community. As industry leader, LCH.Clearnet remains committed to enhancing efficiency and transparency across the clearing workflow, which is so important for participants at this time of unprecedented industry change.”
—Daniel Maguire, head of SwapClear US, managing director, LCH.Clearnet

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