In other FinTech news, GreenKey wants to aggregate your IM channels, and New Zealand’s central bank is on a buying spree.
Summit Partners Invests $30 Million in Vestmark
Vestmark, a software as a service (SaaS) provider of unified wealth management solutions, recently closed a $30 million dollar investment from global growth equity investor Summit Partners, officials say.
Vestmark officials say they will use the new funding to accelerate growth by increasing investment in sales, marketing, and software development, officials say. The cash infusion will also provide the company with “greater flexibility” to explore its options.
In a statement, John Lunny, CEO of Vestmark, adds that “this funding not only allows Vestmark to continue our growth trajectory but also to explore additional avenues of growth.”
The 15-year-old vendor offers an integrated cloud-based technology platform that includes modules for advisor trading, proposal generation, and client reporting, officials say. The Saas model targets advisors, broker-dealers and asset managers and their clients. “Financial institutions are reevaluating their operating models as investors demand an improved user experience and banking regulations continue to evolve,” vendor officials say.
“This is a critical milestone for Vestmark. Our subscription revenue model has enabled the company to achieve high renewal rates and a demonstrated record of profitability,” says Tiffany Freitas, CFO of Vestmark, in a statement.
Summit Partners describes itself as a global growth equity firm that is currently investing more than $6.5 billion into equity and fixed income opportunities, officials say. Other companies financed by Summit Partners include Avast, Belkin, Clearwater Analytics, Flow Traders, Hyperion Solutions, Infor, McAfee, NetWitness, optionsXpress, SafeBoot, Uber and WebEx.
GreenKey to Debut IM Aggregator
GreenKey, the vendor of a voice-driven, collaboration platform for global financial services firms, says that in early May it will launch a new instant messaging (IM) aggregator, officials say.
The aggregator will offer “the ability to retain messages sent over third-party platforms to meet mandatory record-keeping requirements,” say GreenKey officials. “The tool will make popular platforms such as Yahoo, WhatsApp, WeChat and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) acceptable for use by financial market firms.”
The aggregator will work by letting end-users log into third-party instant messenger applications from within GreenKey, “eliminating those features of the platforms that are non-compliant with financial regulations, such as the ability to delete messages,” vendor officials say. “GreenKey’s software will enable the users’ firms to capture and store the messages for compliance purposes. The tool will enable users to aggregate their login and messaging capabilities and manage all of their instant messages, regardless of the platform, in one place.”
Financial services firms “want to be able to offer their staff the ability to use different instant messaging services, as dictated by market practices and the needs of their customers, but regulatory requirements place the burden on them to make sure they are retaining records and meeting financial market security protocols,” says GreenKey CEO Paul Christensen, in a prepared statement.
“Our voice-driven collaboration platform was designed to capture and retain data from different sources so integrating instant messaging is a natural extension of our offering, “ says Anthony Tassone, GreenKey chief product officer. “In fact, GreenKey has been working with customers on voice dictation inside the messaging platforms, enabling faster workflows for brokers and traders who must submit deals within a certain period of time to remain compliant.”
For instance, IM and chat room communications are part of the record-keeping requirements under U.S. CFTC Regulation 1.35(a).
“Given the predominant use of WhatsApp and WeChat as a means of communicating in Asia, this will be a fantastic tool for financial firms here,” says Russell Fernando, group managing director of Amstel Financial Services Pte Ltd. in Singapore, in a statement.
“We have been using GreenKey’s voice communications throughout our firm, but primarily in Asia, for nearly a year,” says Dominic Banaszkiewicz, technical operations director of Freight Investor Services (FIS), a global commodity derivatives and interdealer broker. “Given the global regulatory environment, GreenKey’s new IM aggregator will prove to be essential for us to remain compliant in all areas of voice and chat retention.”
GreenKey has offices in London, Chicago, New York, and Singapore.
New Zealand Central Bank to Revamp Major Platforms
A key central bank, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), is overhauling systems as it has selected analytics vendor Numerix as a strategic partner to transform its trade valuation and risk management analytics, and chosen SIA Group to oversee the replacement of its Exchange Settlement Account System (ESAS).
RBNZ officials say they have chosen the Numerix Oneview enterprise pricing and risk analytics platform to overhaul its Treasury Systems strategy and future roadmap.
“Numerix Oneview will provide market standard trade valuation, position and collateral management, alongside enhanced risk and performance reporting, to aid in effective decision making and reduce key operational and market risks,” say Numerix officials. “Numerix Oneview will deliver to RBNZ streamlined daily operational workflows across trade management, pricing and valuations, pre- and post-trade limits, market risk, counterparty credit risk, XVAs, liquidity and collateral management.”
As the single source of data for trades, valuations and analytics, Numerix Oneview has been tasked to provide “consistency of analytics across the trading book at RBNZ, supporting the pricing and risk management needs of front office, as well as middle office,” officials say.
Subsequent roll-outs of Oneview will target liquidity, collateral and trade management “as well as complete front-middle office workflow,” officials say.
“As New Zealand’s central bank we’re constantly working toward our vision and commitment to providing a sound and dynamic monetary and financial system, and core to our values is innovation, where we’re actively improving what we do,”
“With substantial domestic and foreign market operations, innovation extends to how we’re improving our technology and analytics capability for improved risk management,” says Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Geoff Bascand, in a statement. For the bank, most important thing consideration is comprehensive analytics for value and risk management that facilitate decisions in real time, Bascand adds.
In a separate project, RBNZ officials are tapping SIA Group to implement and support a new Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system replacing the ESAS platform. The RTGS is a system that electronically streamlines the settlement of large-value transactions between banks, officials say.
“SIA will use its wholly-owned subsidiary Perago, based in Pretoria (South Africa), specialized in central banks solutions,” SIA officials say.
“Our preferred approach was to find and use an existing off-the-shelf system rather than build a new bespoke system,” Bascand says. “The contract with SIA achieves that goal. The Perago RTGS system has a rich list of features that we can consider for deployment.” The system offers “substantial processing capacity and the Perago solution will allow for significant volume growth and high throughput rates,” SIA officials say.
“The functionality of the existing ESAS system will largely be incorporated into the replacement, including auto-overnight reverse purchase of eligible securities, tiered interest, authorization and liquidity management features, and key interfaces to the SWIFT messaging system,” SIA officials say.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), New Zealand’s central bank, has chosen SIA – European leader in technology infrastructures and services for financial institutions, central banks, corporates and public administration bodies – to implement and support a new Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system replacing the current Exchange Settlement Account System (ESAS).
“After an initial planning phase, we expect to start settling on options and features in the second half of this year, with installation of the new RTGS to follow,” Mr. Bascand said.
In addition to the implementation of the Perago RTGS system, the Reserve Bank will replace the “underlying payment system IT infrastructure, which is currently integrated with the corporate IT infrastructure,” SIA officials say. “The new RTGS will operate on a standalone IT infrastructure that incorporates substantial redundancy and resiliency features.”
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