Best Market Data Provider (Vendor): Thomson Reuters

In a fiercely competitive financial industry, access to timely and high-quality data is critical to the success of any organization. Firms are therefore looking for vendors that can meet their ever‑changing data requirements driven by regulation, technology and business growth. Topping the reader survey this year as the Best Market Data Provider (Vendor) is data giant Thomson Reuters, which continues to demonstrate a zest for enhancing content sets and performance.

 Thomson Reuters, which also clinched the Overall Best Data Provider award this year, stands out for the breadth, depth and quality of its information sources, and continuing enhancement of its Elektron Data Platform. “Data is the backbone of everything firms do, and that needs to be totally rock-solid,” says Marion Leslie, managing director, Enterprise, at Thomson Reuters.

 To help customers remain at the top of their game, Thomson Reuters has continued to innovate and deliver new content sets on the Elektron Data Platform, which now carries 70 million instruments. Leslie explains that the past year has seen Thomson Reuters add everything from new Peruvian credit ratings and microsecond stamps for Tokyo, to a cryptocurrency real-time rates data feed. “You need continued investment in the infrastructure and platform,” she says.

 From a technology standpoint, the past year has seen Thomson Reuters delivering improved speed too. The update frequency has grown to 7 million instrument updates per second, and regulatory changes such as the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive have led to the creation of 3 trillion new data points. “We’re making sure the data, performance and infrastructure matches market needs,” Leslie says. 

Thomson Reuters sees a move to cloud-based technology on the horizon. “Most financial institutions have a target to leverage cloud technology, and they’re using it for everything from reducing total cost of ownership to leveraging technology such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. We’re making sure we partner with our customers as they start using these services,” says Leslie.

 The first step has been to deliver cloud services to customers and work with them on proof of concepts, which will enable firms to transform the way they process data and address data management spend. “We have an open‑platform approach, and really allowing that connectivity will enable the customer to get full return on content,” she says.

Read more about the IMD/IRD Awards 2018 winners