Our FinTech update features news from Indata, EULAV, Copper Street Capital, Linedata, Moody’s, RiskFirst, Axioma and OpenFin.
ICE Buys Merrill Lynch Option Volatility Estimate Index Family
Exchange operator Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) will be acquiring a family of fixed income volatility indices, including the Merrill Lynch Option Volatility Estimate (MOVE) from Bank of America Merrill Lynch to further help clients manage risk, officials say.
“The MOVE Index has a long history of providing strong signals about bond market sentiment, and we’re excited to have it become part of our portfolio of fixed income indices,” says Lynn Martin, president and chief operating officer (COO) of ICE Data Services, in a prepared statement.
The MOVE Index measures U.S. interest rate volatility by tracking the movement in U.S. Treasury yield volatility implied by current prices of one-month over-the-counter (OTC) options on 2-year, 5-year, 10-year and 30-year Treasuries, officials say. ICE will also acquire other variations of MOVE that track different option expiries, and other indices that similarly measure volatility in the U.S. interest rate swap market.
“One can think of the MOVE as ‘the VIX for Bonds,’ ” says Harley Bassman, creator of the MOVE index in the 1990s, in a statement. “By its design, MOVE has the unique ability to provide a signal for changing risk sentiment in the fixed income markets. While I would not call it predictive in isolation, rare is the case where a simultaneously low MOVE, flat Yield Curve and tight Corporate Spreads are not soon followed by bothersome market conditions.”
The MOVE and accompanying fixed income volatility indices will become part of the ICE Data Indices for more than 5,000 global fixed income, equity, commodity and currency indices that use ICE Data Services’ pricing, reference data and analytics solutions, officials add.
ICE offers clearinghouse, data and listing services and is the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Asset Manager Deploys Indata System
Indata, a provider of software, technology and managed services for buy-side firms, reports that New York City-based EULAV Asset Management has implemented Indata’s iPM Epic middle and back office software services.
EULAV is also utilizing Indata for trade order management and electronic trading for both equities and fixed income, portfolio modeling, and pre/post-trade compliance, per Indata.
“Now that we have Indata’s middle and back office software services, we are able to automate many of the manual processes that we had in place with our previous back office provider,” Raymond Stock, EULAV’S vice president of operations, says in a statement.
Copper Street Capital Picks Linedata
Linedata, a provider of lending and leasing, and asset management technology, data and services, reports that Copper Street Capital, a U.K.-based alternative investment firm, has selected Linedata’s portfolio management and compliance solution, Linedata Global Hedge.
Linedata provides Copper Street access to real-time data, optimized operations and strategic oversight of its investment process, the vendor says in a statement.
Copper Street will benefit from enhanced oversight, scalability and workflow automation across a range of requirements, including real-time P&L and exposure, fund administrator reconciliation and robust compliance, Linedata also notes in the statement.
“Copper Street Capital drives superior returns for its investors utilizing event driven strategies in the global developed financial service sector,” Kevin McCormack, head of middle office at Copper Street, says in a statement.
Copper Street Capital LLP, established in 2015, is exclusively focused on financial services and invests across public and private markets, per the statement.
France-headquartered Linedata tallies 1,300 employees in 20 locations and more than 700 clients across 50 countries.
Moody’s Acquires RiskFirst
Moody’s Corporation reports that it has acquired RiskFirst, a fintech vendor providing risk analytic solutions for asset managers and pension fund providers. Moody’s notes that the acquisition “positions Moody’s Analytics to extend its range of market-leading risk solutions to the institutional buy-side.”
“RiskFirst sits at the heart of the buy-side and asset owner ecosystem and is known for its specialized expertise and high-quality products,” Mark Almeida, president of Moody’s Analytics, says in a statement.
“This deal will enhance our capabilities while building on what has made RiskFirst successful: a sophisticated, technically excellent product combined with superior service and support, Matthew Seymour, CEO of RiskFirst, says in the statement.
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Axioma Partners with OpenFin
OpenFin, maker of an operating system (OS) for financial services systems, has partnered with Axioma, an enterprise risk management vendor, to integrate the OpenFin OS with Axioma’s axiomaBlue technology layer, officials say.
Axioma will deploy its portfolio risk management dashboard application on OpenFin as “the first phase of the partnership,” officials say.
“The first product to be deployed will be Axioma’s dashboard application, which will allow OpenFin users to benefit from collaborative workflows through their desktops in between any axiomaBlue module, as well as any other third-party applications available on the OpenFin platform,” officials say. The second and third Axioma product phases deployed via OpenFin will be available for portfolio managers in 2020.
The OpenFin OS is used for the deployment and interoperability of desktop applications across the financial services industry, officials say.
The vendor’s customers include major banks, asset management firms and many vendor platforms in the space. Axioma’s offerings can be used for portfolio construction, performance attribution, regulatory reporting and custom index design, officials say.
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