Waters Rankings 2016: Best Reference Data Provider — Thomson Reuters

It’s not hard to see what has made Thomson Reuters a leader in the category for the past half-decade. First and foremost is the breadth of coverage for Thomson Reuters DataScope Select, the firm’s strategic data delivery platform. Tim Lind, global head of regulatory solutions at Thomson Reuters, says the platform provides end-of-day prices from over 180 exchanges, spot rates on 175 currencies, and corporate actions on over 50,000 companies. There is also the fixed-income coverage of governments, corporates, loans, convertibles, high yields, municipals and asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. 

Thomson Reuters’ coverage is backed by over 200 data experts focused on data collection, analysis and quality control, according to Lind, along with an audit trail that links to auditable sources in a concise and user-friendly manner. 

As is the case with any consistent winner at the Waters Rankings, there has been no lack of enhancements made over the past 12 months. One example of that is Thomson Reuters for Shareholding Disclosures data, which looks to help asset managers who are required to monitor and report any breach in a threshold or ownership of the share capital or voting rights of a given issuer, according to Lind. Thomson Reuters Shareholding Disclosures data has 15 different types of total shares and total voting rights, Lind says, which allows asset managers to monitor their positions. A comprehensive set of reference data integral to the numerator calculation process is also provided. 

Like most vendors, Thomson Reuters has an eye on the evolving regulatory space when it comes to future enhancements. “Over the next 12 months, we will continue to enhance our reference data offering to deliver the solutions our customers need to meet regulations such as Mifid II and Basel III,” Lind says. “We will also look to expand our Countries of Risk solution, which helps our clients understand their true exposure to an issuer, and the ability to accurately measure and report risk in investment portfolios.”