News

Automated reconciliation pays dividends in efficient data management for Pzenza Investment Management.

Citing a study on reconciliation spending from CEB TowerGroup, Electra CEO John Landry writes that having an accurate and efficient reconciliation system should always be a priority for financial firms, but rather than focus exclusively on technology that drives revenue, market participants should also consider technology that helps to preserve revenue, in order to maximize the effectiveness of the solution.

Reconciliation teams must ensure trade instructions are followed, provide transparency for fund managers, clarify the impact of corporate actions, and verify key elements such as the dates of transactions and settlements. Yet as information technology has found its place in streamlining other areas of operations, reconciliation has resisted automation—until now.

Reconciliation can be difficult when it comes to personal relationships. And it’s no different in the financial services industry, as buy and sell-side firms must make their internal and external connections work. Harmony is more than just a state of mind- it’s essential to survival, because breakups can be costly.

New York-based Pzena Investment Management’s methodical transition to a reconciliation platform in 2004 is still yielding productivity gains today. And Electra has been there all the way.

The fungibility of over-the-counter swaps and exchange-traded financial futures is at the center of calls for parity with exchanges by operators of swap execution facilities (SEFs) and other market participants. Electra Managing Director, Ian Danic, comments on the post-trade reporting issues the industry is facing due to the looming regulations.

For buy side institutors, the fee billing process is still a largely manual process. As the complexity of portfolios continues to increase, institutional investment managers are at a greater risk of losing revenue while still using an outdated fee billing process.

Post-trade solutions provider Electra has officially moved into the fee calculation and invoicing realm with the launch of the Quantum software system that targets complex portfolios beyond the reach of outdated spreadsheets.

In January 2013, Electra launched a fee calculation and revenue management system – Quantum – to help firms in the billing settlement arena. The system is designed to “close the loop” to round out the vendor’s data processing suite.

A Q&A with Electra’s CEO John Landry, covering such issues as market trends, the current regulatory environment, what his job entails – even the first car he ever owned.