SHINING LIGHT ON ACCURATE VALUATIONS A Use Case: Thomson Reuters Valuation & Reference Data Services

Transcription

1 SHINING LIGHT ON ACCURATE VALUATIONS A Use Case: Thomson Reuters Valuation & Reference Data Services

2 SHINING LIGHT ON ACCURATE VALUATIONS A Use Case: Thomson Reuters Valuation & Reference Data Services BUSINESS CHALLENGE Ensure timely intraday and end-of-day prices for numerous regional centers around the world Lower the total cost of ownership for pricing feeds and operational overhead Improve evaluated pricing service quality and reliability for customer and end-clients Enhance level of asset coverage and better response time to price challenges Seamlessly transition organization s clients to new evaluated pricing service Major Global Fund Administrator Turns to Thomson Reuters for Industry-Leading Intraday and End-of-Day Evaluated Pricing Capabilities One of the world s foremost fund administrators sought to forge a critical business relationship with a provider able to feed high quality evaluated pricing information to the organization s evaluated pricing centers. The organization had been running multiple provider contracts, but wanted to rationalize these to reduce its data feed costs and subsequently the total cost of ownership and streamline the operation. In addition, the organization needed to enhance the timeliness, accuracy and range of its evaluated pricing data in order to better support its own clients. The Challenge The organization had specific requirements for the format in which it required the data delivered to its central processing center, and how the data fields were to be mapped. In addition, the organization has a follow-the-sun model, utilizing processing centers in each of the Asian, European and American regions to provide evaluated pricing capabilities to the preceding time zone. As a result, it was imperative that evaluated pricing information be delivered to multiple centers around the world and at various periods throughout the day, to ensure the different processing centers received accurate prices at the appropriate times to meet their intraday and end-of-day requirements. The Selection Process The organization assessed a range of evaluated pricing providers during the selection process. Alongside data delivery timeliness and global presence, a key consideration for the organization was the depth and breadth of asset coverage each provider could offer, including for a broad array of hard-to-price securities. Another consideration was the level of expertise of the provider s evaluators. This expertise, along with the global presence of the provider, would enable the organization to deliver a global solution based on confidence. Not only that, but the organization could explore other services where they could offer more value to the end client, like; corporate actions, legal entity, reference data etc. Service resilience was another important factor, so the organization devoted considerable attention to the different providers business continuity infrastructures. The Solution After an extensive selection process, the organization chose the Thomson Reuters DataScope Select Valuation & Reference Data Service. DataScope Select is a truly global, holistic offering designed to support the evaluated pricing idiosyncrasies of each geographic region. The flexibility of the DataScope Select system allowed for deep customization of the product to meet the organization s specific needs, for example in matching the data formats the organization required and adding specific fields where necessary. And crucially, DataScope Select is able to satisfy the organization s demand for timely intraday prices. As well as the proven flexibility and resilience of the DataScope Select product, the organization chose Thomson Reuters on the basis of high quality and reliable evaluated pricing data. During the long and rigorous coverage check process, Thomson Reuters scored well over 90 percent for the majority of coverage metrics, and demonstrated particular strength in the government and corporate fixed income evaluated pricing areas. The transparency of the Thomson Reuters evaluated pricing process which enables users to see and understand the inputs and methodology used also set the offering apart. The high quality of the evaluated pricing service stems from a number of factors. Firstly, Thomson Reuters can draw on an industry-leading contributor network featuring more than 20,000 contributions per day, as well as live trading portals such as the TradeWeb and RTFI

3 platforms. Secondly, the evaluated pricing teams are staffed by ex-bond traders with years of market experience and extensive dealer contacts. Furthermore, as an organization Thomson Reuters can call on 60,000 journalists, account managers and data professionals sited in cities around the world, who can assist with information and evaluated pricing even in the most volatile or remote locations. Cost Savings Significant cost savings will also be realized. Gerry Buggy, Managing Director of Enterprise Content explains, Thomson Reuters has now become the organization s primary supplier of exchange-listed pricing and fixed income evaluated pricing capabilities. By implementing Thomson Reuters DataScope Select in place of the multiple data sources and products it used hitherto, the organization has been able to slash its total cost of ownership. Replacing its medley of contracts with a standardized Thomson Reuters license has enabled the organization to reduce its administration burden and operational overhead as well. End-Client Advantage For the organization, end-client buy-in to a change of evaluated pricing provider was critically important. Therefore, Thomson Reuters partnered with the organization to help explain to end-clients why there might be variations in evaluated pricing compared to the previous vendor, and to help with the transition of their organization with rapid turnarounds on any price challenges they receive from their clients, including a full explanation of how the price was arrived at. Thanks to the combination of the coverage check results achieved and the transparent evaluated pricing methodology, the organization could thereby clearly demonstrate to its clients that they would receive a stronger evaluated pricing service as a result of the switch to Thomson Reuters. Support Quality For Thomson Reuters, partnering with customers does not end with the service implementation. As part of the support capability, a dedicated project manager and data account manager have been assigned to work with the organization to ensure the continued excellence in quality of service. At a high level, this includes being part of a steering committee with representatives of the organization to monitor the relationship s development. On a day-to-day basis the focus was on ensuring data feeds operate properly, that prices go out correctly each day, that the response to price challenges occurred in a timely and transparent manner, and thereby help the organization meet its service level agreements with end-clients. Future Enhancements Remaining responsive to clients demands is a key component of the Thomson Reuters ethos. To this end, collaboration with the organization to identify and implement ongoing enhancements to DataScope Select is critical. By adopting an open partnership approach, the goal is to ensure Thomson Reuters has a more effective and efficient product offering that best meets not only the specific fund administration needs of this particular customer, but those of other securities services providers in the marketplace. For example, based on customer need, we are adding more evaluated pricing points across currencies to make sure all funds, no matter where they are domiciled, can meet NAV requirements. Meanwhile, Thomson Reuters Valuation and Reference Data Services continues to build on the relationship with the organization. Following adoption of Thomson Reuters exchange-listed and evaluated pricing services, the organization is now assessing the reference data and corporate actions capabilities to determine what additional advantages could be implemented. The Thomson Reuters Advantage Unrivalled global reach Timely intraday and end-of-day price delivery and prompt response times on price challenges Industry-leading price coverage checks on a broad array of assets Access to a vast selection of contributed and live prices Exceptional evaluation team knowledge and experience Customizable product solutions Responsive client support and commitment to ongoing service development Resilient business continuity processes Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved

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