Scivantage to Support Maxit Customers via Broadridge BPO Services
Scivantage, a brokerage, tax and portfolio reporting applications vendor, is partnering with Broadridge Financial Solutions to provide Scivantage Maxit cost basis reporting customers with reconciliation via Broadridge’s business process outsourcing services, say officials from both companies.
“There were multiple factors that brought our two companies together,” says Job Dennison, senior vice president, investment reporting at Scivantage. “Ultimately, Scivantage wanted a partner who could drive the process optimization while we maintain our focus on software optimization.”
Dennison adds that the Broadridge BPO services will help Maxit clients in three key areas of operations:
- Corporate actions: “Clients may identify or categorize the corporate actions differently than the street. In those situations, Maxit manages the differences by loading custom settings for those clients to insure that reorganizations are processed without issue.”
- Processing flaws: “Issues may arise from time to time in the processing logic or new data patterns arise, which aren’t immediately handled by existing processing logic.”
- Data issues: “The data itself needs cleansing because there are issues inherent to the back office business practices or system processes which create the data. Our clients will continue to benefit as we work with Broadridge to further establish a standard for data accuracy and overall management of our clients’ complex cost basis data needs.”
Scivantage did consider other BPO providers, Dennison says. “But this partnership made the most sense for us and for our clients. The experience Broadridge BPO brought to the table was just more compelling when it came to cost basis management,” he says.
The biggest customer need that drove Scivantage to partner with Broadridge was flexibility, Dennison say. “In the end, our clients’ cost basis needs change over time and that means there is a need for flexibility.”
For customer service, Broadridge employees will be trained to help Scivantage Maxit customers resolve problems with the BPO services. “Scivantage extensively trains and works closely with the Broadridge team in the utilization of Maxit and the application of cost basis data within our systems,” Dennison says. “This partnership is an extension and enhancement of our existing services. The BPO teams are a significant component of our overall offering and are deeply integrated into the service structure.”
SEC Approves ISE’s Second Options Exchange
The SEC has approved the Form 1 application of U.S. options exchange operator International Securities Exchange for a second options exchange, dubbed ISE Gemini, say ISE officials. ISE Gemini is slated to launch next week on Aug 5 with a small number of symbols and will eventually trade all of the most active options classes.
“We are operationally ready for the launch and in the final stages of working with our members to trade on ISE Gemini,” says Boris Ilyevsky, managing director of ISE’s options exchanges, in a statement. “We are excited to offer our members a new pricing structure through ISE Gemini with the same technology and market structure that are hallmarks of ISE.”
The membership of ISE Gemini consists of primary market makers; competitive market makers; and electronic access members, officials say. To date, ISE Gemini has 15 approved market makers.
Carlyle Group Joins Private Equity Data Alliance
The Carlyle Group, Apollo Global Management and other major private equity firms have joined a global private equity industry group that is pioneering a global data standard for sharing alternative investment information, say officials of the AltExchange Alliance. Other new members of the alliance include Aberdeen SVG Private Equity, CVC Capital Partners, Encore Funds, Franklin Park, LLC; Lupton Company, LLC; Partners Group AG, and Pine Brook Partners.
The data standard to come is intended to help firms better serve investors that want more analysis of their alternative investment and private equity holdings, which ultimately means an increase in the volume of data requests from fund managers. Many firms have their own format for producing and sharing data, causing issues for both fund managers and investors that want to produce and consume data using a single, common format, say AltExchange officials.
AltExchange officials add that the effort consists of three parts: the alliance, which is a member-owned initiative that directs development of the standard; the push for a universal, open and evolving standard for sharing various types of data (contact, financial, account information and more); and the validation platform, a cloud-based data service for certifying whether a document is in compliance with the standard.
Founded earlier this year, the AltExchange will also incorporate guidelines from the Institutional Limited Partners Association and the International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation organization. The initiative is intended to result in: better relationships and responsiveness between managers and investors; better accuracy in providing data to interested parties and in using the supplied data; less effort in producing the requested data; less resources needed to incorporate and aggregate the provided data; and ultimately enhanced decision-making abilities.
Membership is open to LPs, GPs, advisors, consultants and vendors, say officials. Members can aid the development of standards, and proposals are under review by leading GPs.
“The opportunity to help finalize the AltExchange Standard was an important reason for joining now,” said Thomas Mayrhofer, chief financial officer of corporate private equity at the Carlyle Group, in a statement. “As investors’ needs increase, this initiative will enable us to have a common data format that saves time and resources for both GPs and LPs, while providing more useful data to our Limited Partners.”
Raymond Schnidrig, chief technology officer of Partners Group, a GP member of the alliance focusing on middle market direct investments across private markets, says in a statement that the initiative has the potential to “significantly impact private markets from an operational perspective over the coming years.”
eFront Signs Brazilian Client
Brazilian firm Inseed Investimentos, a venture capital company based in Belo Horizonte, will be using software provider eFront to boost efficiency and investor relationships and structure its investment operations and fundraising activity, say officials at Inseed and the vendor.
Inseed Investimentos, which has more than 40 companies in its portfolio and focuses on companies in the early stages of development, will be use eFront’s front-to-back-office solutions.
The eFront software solutions target general partners, limited partners and fund administrators that need to IT solutions for investment and investor management. For instance, the eFront software can help GPs automate tasks such as issuing capital call notices, managing investor allocations and fees, and closing financial periods.
Other eFront clients in Brazil include private equity firm GP Investments, based in São Paulo, say vendor officials. To support its Latin American clients and the regional market, eFront will be opening an office in Rio de Janeiro later this year.
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