In other FinTech news, Raymond James names a chief investment officer for its private clients, Integral partners with MOEX, and the CME Group honors IT legend Steve Wozniak.
iRecs Watson Wheatley
Genesis Investment Management Deploys Watson Wheatley Service
London-based Genesis Investment Management, a specialist investment management firm, is the first official customer of reconciliation vendor Watson Wheatley’s “reconciliation as a service” offering, according to officials at the firm and the vendor.
The new offering from Watson Wheatley leverages the audit controls and automation of the iRecs reconciliation system “but is fully managed on behalf of the client,” say Watson Wheatley officials.
The managed reconciliation service will provide a “significant reduction in manual intervention with a 99%+ automatic match rate and daily delivery of reconciliation results to management staff at Genesis,” say Watson Wheatley officials. “Heavily automated matching, annotation and upload processes are in place along with regular feeds from external parties and the ability to automatically update Genesis’ SimCorp Dimension system based on strict rules derived from the matching process.”
The new implementation also offers “intra-day uploads and downloads, full NAV [net asset value] reconciliation and an extensive MI output including regular KPI measurement,” say vendor officials.
“Having successfully worked with Watson Wheatley as a reconciliation platform provider in the past, the Watson Wheatley reconciliation service has enabled Genesis Investment Management to improve its operational efficiencies by streamlining the process; Genesis are now able to limit their focus on exception-based activity,” says Jens Moller-Butcher, chief operating officer (COO) for Genesis Investment Management, in a prepared statement.
“Their service supports a rapid response to change requirements at low risk, which allows for improvements to be made as the reconciliation requirements evolve. Genesis chose Watson Wheatley specifically for these reasons, the team are extremely knowledgeable of their product and through their undoubted experience the company efficiently serves our requirements. Support contacts are readily available to resolve queries, discuss initiatives and attend performance reviews,” Moller-Butcher says.
“While we see our on-premise and hosted solutions as the most popular deployments of iRecs, we feel there is also a gap in the market for using our team to run highly automated reconciliations on behalf of clients,” says Tom Wheatley, COO for Watson Wheatley, in a statement.
Genesis focuses on investment in emerging market equities for institutional investors.
RJF Picks a Chief Investment Officer for Private Client Group
Raymond James Financial (RJF) has appointed Larry Adam as chief investment officer for RJF’s Private Client Group.
Adam has a history with Deutsche Bank where he held the dual roles of chief investment officer —Americas, and global chief investment strategist for Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, officials say.
“Adding Larry’s leadership, impressive background and experience, deep industry knowledge and nuanced investment perspectives delivers on our commitment to provide advisors and clients with the best tools and resources available,” says Paul Reilly, chairman and CEO for RJF.
“The opportunity to complement the already well-respected, highly regarded macro, equity and fixed income research capabilities will only make the existing platform even more impactful. I am so excited to join such an industry leader,” Adam said, in a prepared statement.
Adam’s path to Deutsche Bank began when he began working for Alex. Brown & Sons in 1992. He continued with the firm through the 1997 acquisition by Bankers Trust and the subsequent purchase of BT by Deutsche Bank in 1999, officials say. Raymond James purchased the Alex. Brown & Sons business from Deutsche Bank in 2016, and has turned it into a division of RJF.
RJF describes itself as a financial holding company that consists of subsidiaries such as Raymond James & Associates, Raymond James Financial Services, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Raymond James Ltd., Eagle Asset Management and Raymond James Bank, N.A.
Integral to Offer OCX via the Moscow Exchange
Foreign exchange (FX) technology provider Integral has a new partnership with the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) that will allow Integral to offer its Open Currency Exchange (OCX) to MOEX clients.
Through OCX, Integral will offer MOEX customers access to liquidity and lower latency, and MOEX will provide liquidity to the Integral network, officials say. MOEX is described as “the largest worldwide RUB FX electronic trading venue.”
With MOEX as a price provider to the Integral network, it will enrich the liquidity in OCX, says Harpal Sandhu, CEO and founder of Integral.
“Our cooperation with Integral will facilitate access to global FX liquidity for MOEX’s clients, allowing them to keep our regular infrastructure interfaces, benefits and comfort of the central counterparty service as well as low costs,” say Igor Marich, managing director of the money and derivatives markets at MOEX, in a prepared statement.
MOEX was formed in 2011 through the merger of Russia’s two leading exchanges, MICEX and RTS, officials say. MOEX hosts trading in equities, bonds, derivatives, currencies, money market instruments and commodities.
Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder
CME Group Honors Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak
IT industry pioneer and Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak is the 14th recipient of the CME Group’s Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award, according to the CME Group’s Center for Innovation. The award, formerly known as the Fred Arditti Innovation Award, honors Wozniak for his significant contributions to computer science and technology.
The CME Group presented Wozniak the award at the 11th annual Global Financial Leadership Conference in Naples, Fla., on Tuesday, Nov. 13.
“In 1976, Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer Inc. and debuted Wozniak’s Apple I personal computer. The following year, the company introduced the Apple II personal computer, featuring a central processing unit, a keyboard, color graphics, and a floppy disk drive, helping launch the personal computer industry. Wozniak is well-known as a Silicon Valley icon and prominent philanthropist,” according to the CME Group’s presentation.
“Steve Wozniak’s impact on modern technology cannot be overstated,” said Leo Melamed, CME Group Chairman Emeritus and co-founder of the Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award, in a prepared statement. “His pioneering innovations in personal computing still help power our economy today,” Melamed says.
“I am honored to join a distinguished roster of recipients of the CME Group Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award,” Wozniak said at the event. “I have dedicated my career to building a better world through technology. Only through fostering innovation can we develop the solutions that will meet the economic and business challenges of tomorrow.”
Over the years, Wozniak has been awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1985 and was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 2000. In October 2017, he co-founded Woz U, a tech education platform dedicated to educating and training people in employable digital skills without putting them into years of debt. He also started the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, officials say. Wozniak holds a degree in electrical engineering/computer science from U.C. Berkeley.
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