Buy-Side Technology Awards 2015: Best Buy-Side Performance Measurement and Attribution Product—BI-SAM

Given the prominence that performance and attribution activities enjoy at buy-side firms, catering to this need by way of providing asset managers with technology and services to manage those functions has brought about the establishment of a highly competitive market dominated by a handful of well-established vendors vying for a piece of the action. That BI-SAM walks away with its eighth straight win in this intensely competitive category, speaks volumes about its knowledge of the intricacies of the subject, its attention to detail from both a service and technology perspective, and its ability to sign new clients, and crucially, retain existing ones. 

B-One, BI-SAM’s flagship offering and the platform responsible for delivering its eight wins, is a performance, attribution, risk and reporting platform, designed to streamline investment processes by integrating middle- and back-office systems. It uses a single data source across all of its modules in order to help improve clients’ performance measurement, data management, operational risk and attribution, client reporting, and composite management and GIPS-compliance activities.

During 2015, BI-SAM signed its first Asia-based buy-side client, a significant move, given its traditional European and US focus, while on the technology front it released BI-SAM GO, a new web-based offering designed to provide buy-side firms with daily and transactional performance and attribution analytics, alongside cleansed and validated data. It also appointed a new CEO, Bill Haney, at the start of January, who succeeded erstwhile CEO, Alex Harkous. 

As expected, BI-SAM has added more bells and whistles to its all-singing all-dancing B-One platform during 2015—certainly there are too many enhancements to list here—but it is its extensive European and US buy-side client roster that is most striking. Buy-side firms are well known for scrutinizing user-lists before inking contracts; a quick glance down BI-SAM’s list of household names will reassure even the most hesitant of prospective clients.    

That BI-SAM walks away with its eighth straight win in this intensely competitive category, speaks volumes about its knowledge of the intricacies of the subject, its attention to detail from both a service and technology perspective, and its ability to sign new clients, and crucially, retain existing ones.