David Rhind

DST, a global provider of strategically unified data management, business processing, and customer communication solutions, today announced strategic enhancements to its Anova product suite designed to provide global asset managers increased visibility of intraday positions and valuations to help drive investment decisions.

Anova’s new functionality, referred to as an Investment Book of Record (IBOR), addresses the need for buy-side firms to consolidate real-time positions.

A recent report DST Global Solutions’ commissioned with Aite Group indicated a growing need for asset managers to have data updated intraday in order for front offices to have accurate information across regions and asset classes.

According to Julian Webb, Head of Data Management and Analytics at DST Global Solutions, there is an increased market appetite for flexible IBOR solutions that can function independently of both front and back office solutions.

“IBOR is not a one-size-fits-all concept and we recognise the varying challenges global firms are facing when implementing this kind of solution,” says Webb. “The ability to visualise positions across asset classes and regions intraday is essential for firms looking to have better information on which to base their investment decisions.”

Anova IBOR consumes transactions and events in real-time from multiple sources and provides asset managers with improved visibility of their investment positions, including:

• Enterprise –wide view of positions and valuations that is continuously updated
• Positions that reflect all trading activity and business events
• Decomposition of positions according to position state
• Ability to forecast positions into the future
• Ability to view positions at prior dates

“To function effectively in a complex systems environment, where an investment manager may have multiple order management systems and more than one outsourced provider, IBOR has to be truly independent of the front and back office,” says Webb. “We believe that Anova IBOR is one of the few solutions designed specifically for this scenario.”

DST Global Solutions will be participating in the IBOR panel at WatersTechnology’s inaugural Buy-Side Technology Asian Summit 2014 being held today in Singapore. Additionally, DST is participating in a joint European and North American webinar focusing on IBOR, also taking place today.

Australian commentary

David Rhind, Solution Manager, Anova Performance, Asia-Pacific at DST Global Solutions, said, “The concept of having a continuously updated view of complete and accurate position information is not new, but it’s not easy and arguably it has got more difficult in recent years as the nature of the investment management business has evolved. The frequency of trading by some investment managers has increased enormously in recent years, as has the complexity and the breadth of instruments traded. Added to this, the fragmentation of exchanges, markets, IT systems and the multiple outsourcing arrangements is now commonplace, making it like a jigsaw puzzle to piece everything together to see the complete picture.

“Many Australian asset managers, servicers and owners managing global mandates experience time zone challenges and operational issues associated with managing a global model, making it difficult to accurately deliver aggregated cash and stock positions both current and forecast.  Anova IBOR helps provide them with a crystal clear view of their positions throughout the entire investment lifecycle.

“Additionally, firms who have outsourced their operations are at risk in the event of failure at the outsourcer. Having an IBOR acts as an insulation layer allowing the organisation to change outsourcers more easily by preventing lock-in to a single provider.

“Knowing aggregated exposure to asset classes, geographies, brokers, counterparties – or any entity – is increasingly being required by organisations and being able to calculate that exposure quickly is increasingly seen as valuable to meet client transparency, risk mitigation and drive sales,” Mr Rhind said.

Anova IBOR is now available on general release.

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