Buy-Side Technology - 2009-01-01
Articles in this issue
Spotlight on Ryan Pierce
FIX Protocol Limited (FPL), the organisation driving adoption of the FIX protocol, has appointed Ryan Pierce as its new technical director. He discusses the challenges of expanding implementation of FIX among financial services firms in the midst of an…
Protiviti report: buy side still fancies derivatives
According to a new report from Protiviti, a UK-based risk consultancy, the use of derivatives by fund managers will rise over the next 12 to 18 months despite market turbulence and record levels of redemptions from hedge funds. Protiviti has found that:
Technology spending to drop 5% during 2009
Ongoing challenges impacting financial market participants is likely to drive down technology spending at buy-side firms even though they are being spurred by regulators and investors to enhance their enterprise-wide risk management and transparency…
Idiosyncrasies of counterparty risk
Out of all the skeletons now hanging (thankfully) in the 2008 closet - from Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns to Jérôme Kerviel, Samuel Israel III and, of course, Bernard Madoff - one lesson should have been universally learnt: when you're investing money…
Fidessa fragmentation index hits the spot
London-based trading platform provider Fidessa group has seen strong demand for its Fidessa Fragmentation Index (FFI) since it was launched in mid-November 2008. The web-based service is free to use and provides a numerical indicator of how much a…
The party's over
One of the by-products of the ongoing global financial meltdown is the likely cessation of self-regulation for buy-side institutions.
Case study Perfect partners
Guernsey-based Corazon Capital has been through a number of organisational changes in its twelve-year history, which culminated in the implementation of a new investment management platform developed by Third Financial Software at the end of last year …
Insults and injuries
Hedge fund and investment managers could have had a better start to 2009, but that apparently isn't on the cards for the industry.
Month in Numbers
'The decision to get an automated reconciliation engine was a no-brainer - doing cash and scrip reconciliations is not a value-add. It's hugely important from a risk perspective, but should we be using intelligent staff to do something so menial?'
Tech trends will see CIO strategy switch
Progress Software has published its predictions for technological change during 2009, warning that CIOs must take centre stage for changes to be effective. The research has identified five trends:
Doing what it says on the tin
Given the ongoing challenges facing buy-side firms in their attempts to accurately and transparently value hard-to-price securities, it is no surprise that the industry has witnessed the launch of a number of services designed specifically to address…
MarketAxess integrates Markit's CDS quotes to e-trading platform
MarketAxess and Markit have agreed an alliance to integrate Markit Quotes into the MarketAxess client-to-multi-dealer trading platform. Markit Quotes is a real-time quote parsing service that extracts indicative over-the-counter prices from electronic…
Northern exposure
Grant Speirs recently made the northern trek from Cape Town to London to assume the position of group financial director at investment manager M&G, the holding company of his previous firm, Prudential Portfolio Managers. He speaks with Victor Anderson…
SunTrust Banks buy-side units switch to hosted Linedata Services systems
SunTrust Banks, a financial holding company operating in the southeastern US, has gone live on hosted versions of Linedata Services' LongView Trading Order Management System and Linedata Compliance platforms for three institutional and wealth management…
Fanning the flames
Recent short-selling restrictions introduced by the SEC have seemingly realised hedge fund managers’ worst fears: heavy-handed regulation making little distinction between legitimate and below-board investment tactics, coinciding with the most…
Xtrakter launches mark-to-market valuation service
Xtrakter has launched XM2M, a mark-to-market valuation service designed to assist inter-dealer brokers and market makers with the accurate valuation of their securities.
Markit tackles equity transparency problems
Markit, the London-based pricing and valuations data provider, has launched a web-based market-share analysis product to provide greater insight into liquidity in European equities.
Editor's Letter - What's in a name?
Seeing the financial services industry is so fond of acronyms, here's one that describes the state of the hedge fund industry: FUBAR (Fouled Up Beyond All Repair). It's not particularly refined, but few would argue that it's not pertinent.
Infrastructure under pressure as hedge funds contract
The industry-wide shrinking of assets managed by hedge funds is creating a strain on infrastructure and technology as operating budgets are reduced, according to both Thomson Reuters and SunGard.
