In other news, Google embraces FS-ISAC, Confluence and FundGuard collaborate, and QuantCube launches an inflation indicator.
BNY Mellon Taps Arjuna Capital
Officials at the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BNY Mellon) say they are hoping to accelerate their climate strategy efforts via a collaboration with a sustainable investment management firm Arjuna Capital, which helps investors and institutions invest their assets according to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns.
“BNY Mellon believes disclosing its ESG approach is an important element of transparency and risk management and therefore can be a driver of shareholder value,” according to a statement from the custodian.
Arjuna Capital “actively engages its portfolio companies to address climate risk in a transparent and meaningful way. The investment firm has been recognized for using shareholder resolutions to promote climate action and racial and gender pay equity,” officials say.
BNY Mellon “has a track record of reporting on climate change work that leverages its data and analysis, including relating to GHG emissions, climate risk, business resiliency and serving clients with solutions to help them meet their climate-related goals,” officials say.
“For 15 years, BNY Mellon has reported annually through its Enterprise ESG Report, utilizing standards and frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and United Nations Global Compact (UNGC),” officials say. The firm offers more information in its 2021 Enterprise ESG Report.
A major custodian, BNY Mellon offers solutions through its securities services, market and wealth services, and investment and wealth management segments. “As of Dec. 31, 2022, BNY Mellon had $44.3 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.8 trillion in assets under management,” officials say.
Google Cloud Joins FS-ISAC Program
Google Cloud, a major provider to financial services firms, has joined the Critical Providers Program of the cybersecurity group FS-ISAC in an attempt to “strengthen the security of the financial sector’s supply chain,” officials say.
FS-ISAC is a member-driven, not-for-profit organization focused on cybersecurity and resilience in the global financial markets.
“The Critical Providers Program is an official conduit for non-financial organizations providing network infrastructure and services to share sensitive, timely, and industry-specific security information,” officials say. “During large-scale cyber incidents or threats, providers can leverage the dedicated communication channels to expedite the dissemination of accurate information necessary to address the immediate risks and keep the financial industry safe. The Program was launched in 2022 with Akamai as a founding partner.”
The Google-FS-ISAC partnership “will focus on reducing third-party cyber risk to avoid service disruptions within the financial sector and foster a community of transparency as critical service providers increasingly host, connect, and protect a substantial percentage of financial institutions’ infrastructure,” according to Google’s announcement.
“Our partnership with Google Cloud will foster continuous collaboration and information sharing between our member firms and this key provider to the sector, including allowing for the dissemination of timely security information and remediation in the event of a large-scale incident,” says Teresa Walsh, global head of intelligence of FS-ISAC, in a prepared statement.
Confluence & FundGuard Focus On Fund Reporting
Confluence Technologies will be working with FundGuard to offer a combined, “out-of-box” financial reporting solution, officials say.
The collaboration will bring together Confluence’s fund administration solutions with the with “the cloud native, AI-powered, multi-asset class investment accounting platform” from FundGard, officials say.
Specifically, the partnership will combine functions from Confluence’s fund administration platform Unity, Unity NXT Regulatory Reporting, and its asset management performance and risk solutions known as Revolution with the FundGuard accounting platform. The effort is intended to result in streamlined fund reporting for asset managers, asset owners, and fund administrators, officials say.
QuantCube Launches Inflation Indicator
Alternative data analytics vendor QuantCube Technology has launched the QuantCube Core CPI Nowcast indicator that provides new insights into inflation trends of the US economy, officials say.
The new indicator measures “changes in the prices of goods and services. It excludes the food and energy components included in the broader Consumer Price Index, which are generally more volatile,” officials say.
“Everyone is keen to understand long-term inflationary trends to quantify the impact on the economy and investable assets,” says Thanh-Long Huynh, CEO and cofounder of QuantCube Technology. “This new indicator will give traders and investors the added granularity they are looking for in helping them understand the impact of different components on headline inflation, providing valuable insights which they can apply to their investment strategies.”
The users of QuantCube’s Macroeconomic Intelligence Platform (MIP) will “see real-time data from QuantCube for both headline CPI and core CPI – and a breakdown by component. As well as tracking variations in core inflation against the standard CPI price level, users will also be able to view variations year on year and month on month,” officials say.
The Paris-based QuantCube Technology, which uses artificial intelligence and big data analytics for real-time macro-economic insights, “operates one of the largest alternative data lakes in the world, processing more than 15 billion data end points,” officials say. “Sources encompass news, social media, satellite data, professional networks and consumer reviews, as well as international trade, shipping, real-estate, hospitality and telecoms data.”
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