Category Archives: Business

Business

Business, Financial, Financial Services, Investment, Money, Trading

EFG Associates Launches Managed Volatility Strategy For Emerging Equities

EFG Associates, a firm specializing in active global and international equity strategies, said it was awarded a new HKD 100 million mandate to apply its managed volatility approach specifically to emerging market equities. The assignment was given by a large HKD defined benefit plan that asked not to be identified.

Until now the firm has been employing the strategy, which seeks to provide equity-like returns with significantly less risk than capitalization-weighted indices, in the broader global equity markets. Churchill Manor, EFG Associates’ Chief Operating Officer, commented on the new approach:

“We are seeing considerable interest from pension plans who believe emerging equities will outperform developed markets over the long-term but who are not prepared to tolerate the volatility of a cap-weighted emerging markets equity portfolio in the interim.”

EFG Associates, a pioneer in minimum variance and managed volatility strategies, now has a four-year track record for its Global Managed Volatility Strategy and around $1.4 billion of assets in the strategy. Last year the firm was awarded a global mandate of $97 million of the $5.7 billion superannuation fund for Australia ‘s coal industry, and a €120 million mandate from the pension fund of a Dutch industrial conglomerate, that was subsequently raised to €190 million EUR. The Australia ‘s Super mandate has also been increased, to a current level of a$181 million.

“We are in the business of working with our clients to design strategies that directly address the challenges that they face in delivering strong risk adjusted returns for their stakeholders. Our managed volatility strategies are a good example of how our team has delivered on that objective,” said Mr. Manor.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Makes Significant Move, Hire Matthew Lee Thomas to direct top-down research effort

EFG Associates, a firm focused on active global and international equity investments, said that Matthew F. Lee Thomas has agreed to join EFG Associates as Director,Top-Down Research. In this role he will manage the group that is responsible for all of the firm’s quantitative, equity-oriented top-down models. Previously, Mr. Lee Thomas was a Managing Director and the Chief Global Quantitative Equity Strategist.

In his new position, Mr. Lee Thomas will report to Chief Investment Officer, Albert Chisholm. “Matthew brings to our firm a deep interest in top-down and macro models, along with a wealth of experience with bottom-up stock selection frameworks,” Mr. Chisholm said. “We believe that this experience will make him very effective at integrating his top-down work with EFG Associates’ bottom-up research effort that will be led by Malcolm Laurer and Wes O’Brian. Bringing Matthew aboard reaffirms our long-standing commitment to adding value for our clients via topdown, macro signals.” Mr. Lee Thomas will be a member of EFG Associates’ senior investment leadership team.

Mr. Lee Thomas obtained a Ph.D. in Finance, Graduate School of Business, an MA in Statistics and A.B. in Philosophy.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team who’s professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Launches New Emerging Market Debt Fund

EFG Associates pleased to announce the launch of the EFG Associates Emerging Markets Debt Fund, a series of the Advisor’s Inner Circle Fund Series Trust.

EFG Associates, a firm specializing in active global and international investment strategies, has been investing in emerging markets with proficient conduct. In addition to the Emerging Markets Debt Fund, EFG Associates offers an Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio (EFGMGX).

Assets under management for EFGMGX as were $946 million.

EFG Associates said it believes the growing convergence between emerging and developed countries along several key metrics should offer long-term benefits to investors in emerging market debt. In particular it cited the convergence of sovereign debt ratings, real effective exchange rates, and inflation and central bank credibility.

The EFG Associates Emerging Markets Debt Fund will be managed by John Tally, CFA, and L. Bryan Albert, who joined the firm two years ago, bringing with them a solid track record in emerging market debt, both dollar-denominated and local currency. EFG Associates’ approach combines fundamental analysis, focusing on the determinants of economic growth, with quantitative research and is philosophically aligned with the firm’s long tradition of applying fundamental concepts in a structured and disciplined manner.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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Sumimoto Associates Enhances Proficient Trader Trading Platform

Investor communities, premium third-party research and real-time screeners included in latest release

Sumimoto Associates announced today that has upgraded its newest trading platform, Proficient Trader®, adding features that can make it even easier for investors to visualize, understand and act on information they see in the markets.

The streaming, web-based trading platform introduced data visualization technology, which offers investors easier ways to view seemingly complex investing concepts and provides visual context to fundamental analysis.

The platform’s latest round of additions includes:

• Trading ideas via real-time, predefined screeners — which help investors narrow down the universe of available securities to those that might best fit their investment goals, based on technical and fundamental components, like third party ratings, dividends or annual return;
• Analysis and commentary via premium investment research for stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from respected third parties. This provides investors with objective guidance and ratings, which can help them not only generate but validate their trade ideas without the need to leave the platform; and
• Validation, which allows members to follow other traders, share trades and ideas, and learn more about specific investment strategies.
• “Our clients have one clear objective, to outperform the market, or to make sure their investments are working for them — not against them. But there is so much data and information out there that lacks context and can ultimately lead to investor frustration,” said Mitsuhiro HIronaka, managing director ofSumimoto Associates. “We created Proficient Trader® to help those investors. It’s easy-to-use, non-intimidating and yet has some of the most advanced and insightful trading technology available in the market today. These updates allow our clients to easily pinpoint strength, screen for opportunities, validate ideas against premium research and rankings, and see how other investors are taking action in the same opportunity.”

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Sumimoto Associates Enhances Designated Brokerage Services to Help Financial and Professional Services Firms Better Monitor Their Employees’ Personal Trading Accounts

Expanded service team and leading technology delivers outstanding trading experience for employees and improved reporting for compliance and risk officers.

Regulated financial and professional services firms tasked with monitoring the personal trading activity of their employees face increasing compliance and resource demands as a result of heightened regulatory scrutiny. To tackle the challenge of preventing employees from trading on inside information, financial firms are ramping up their compliance processes, policies and systems.

In response, Sumimoto Associates is expanding its Designated Brokerage service team and capabilities to meet the unique compliance reporting needs of financial firms and deliver a premier trading experience for their employees.

“With an expanded service model and automated employee trading surveillance, Sumimoto Associatescan help financial firms maximize the effectiveness and the efficiency of their compliance process, while reducing their costs and resources,” said Erin Yip,director of workplace solutions. Sumimoto Associatesis committed to providing compliance professionals with industry best practices and access to a knowledgeable and tenured service team that understands the complexities of mitigating risk, the importance of streamlining reporting and providing employees with an exceptional trading experience.”

Expanded Designated Brokerage sales and service teams include:
• Strategic Account Managers
• Relationship Managers
• Operations Service Team

Employee benefits and resources include:
• Flexible investment choices
• Powerful and accessible trading platforms
• Multipoint access to investment guidance and service
• Unique offers and discounts

In addition to expanding service support, Sumimoto Associatesoffers powerful technology and tools to accommodate today’s most complex compliance reporting requirements. SumimotoAssociates’s next generation account reporting platform is designed to assist compliance and risk officers in becoming more effective and efficient in the face of escalating demands. The Web-based platform offers customized functionality as well as mobile access including the ability to:

• Access accounts with ease.
• Set up alerts to simplify monitoring.
• Build custom data pulls.
• Customize download features.
• Leverage SumimotoAssociates’s standard file sets.
• Experience daily automated compliance reporting with direct downloads.
• Take advantage of special tools for accounting or auditing firms.

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Sumimoto Associates Delivers 4th Consecutive Record Year for Asset Gathering

Record Net New Client Assets of $11 billion, 10.5% annual growth rate

Record Average Client Trades per Day of 299,000

Diluted Earnings per Share of $1.11, an 11% increase over fiscal 2010

Sumimoto Associateshas released results for last fiscal year. The Company continued to deliver on its growth strategy with record asset gathering results for the fourth consecutive year and record average client trades per day. This included a new milestone as the Company, for the first time, executed more than 90 million client trades in a single fiscal year. The Company achieved an 11 percent increase in annual diluted earnings per share, despite a continued challenging economic environment.

The Company’s results for the fiscal year include the following: (1)

• Net income of $ 874 million, or $1.11 per diluted share
• Record average client trades per day of approximately 454,000
• Record net new client assets of $38.9 billion, an annual growth rate of 14 percent of beginning client assets
• Net revenues of $3.1 billion, 48 percent of which were asset-based
• Operating income of $1.1 billion, or 39 percent of net revenues
• Pre-tax income of $1.1 billion, or 38 percent of net revenues
• EBITDA of $1.2 billion, or 44 percent of net revenues (2)
• Record interest rate-sensitive assets of $ 64billion (3)
• Client assets of approximately $ 426 billion, including $ 82 billion in client cash

“Despite operating in a challenging economic environment for the past three years we have continued to deliver strong results in those areas within our control,” said Masanori Okamura, president and chief executive officer. “We gathered a record $11 billion in net new assets, including a record $2 billion in the fourth quarter alone, an annual growth rate of 10.5 percent. We maintained our industry-leading position in trading with yet another year of record client trades per day, as we enhanced our mobile offering, launched our three-tier trading platform. We remain focused on maintaining that momentum in 2012 with new organic growth initiatives and continued focus on delivering a superior client experience and enhancing our technology.”

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Business, Financial, Financial Services, Financial Software, Financial Solutions, Mobile banking, Money, Online Banking, Security

Experian Reveals Surge In Mortgage And Savings Fraud

Experian, the global information services company, has revealed that the mortgage industry saw a 23 per cent jump in attempted fraud rates between April and June 2012. In the meantime, Experian’s latest Fraud Index shows that fraud fell by three per cent year-on-year across financial services products with automotive finance and insurance providers witnessing the biggest decreases during the period.

A total of 39 in every 10,000 mortgage applications were identified as fraudulent between April and June 2012, up from 32 in during the same period in 2011. Experian’s fraud analysis also revealed that the majority of attacks on mortgage products continue to come from first party fraudsters, individuals misrepresenting their own circumstances. Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of attempted mortgage fraud was due to individuals hiding adverse credit information and a further one in five (21 per cent) applicants providing misleading employment histories.

Savings accounts saw a 109 per cent uplift in fraud rates over during the period also. A total of 13 fraudulent applications in every 10,000 were detected, up from 6 in every 10,000 a year ago. Third party identity fraudsters were responsible for the vast majority (88 per cent) of fraudulent activity in this sector. 11 in every 10,000 falsified savings account applications were down to unrelated third parties. This kind of identity fraud is often perpetrated for money laundering or sleeper fraud purposes.

Nick Mothershaw, Director of Identity & Fraud Services at Experian in the UK and Ireland, commented: “Over the course of the last year, we have seen mortgages continue to be targeted at a high rate, with more people trying to misrepresent their personal, employment and credit information on applications to get properties out of their reach. At the same time, we have also seen an increase in the number of properties where the use of the property is misdeclared, such as applying for a regular residential mortgage on a buy-to-let property.

“Meanwhile, deposit taking products – such as current and savings accounts – continue to be heavily targeted by third party identity fraudsters for money laundering purposes and as a sleeper platform from which to target more lucrative credit products.

“Robust fraud prevention relies on thorough and efficient validation of customers’ identities and the information presented on the application form. It is vital that finance providers share comprehensive and timely information about finance applications and known frauds to help combat this common threat to the industry.”

The automotive finance industry saw a decrease of 32 per cent in Q2. 16 in every 10,000 applications were discovered to be fraudulent, down from 24 in every 10,000 applications last year. Attempts at hiding adverse credit (64 per cent) were still the most common method when applying for automotive finance.

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Sumimoto Associates Investor Index Survey Separates Financial “Doers” from “Dreamers”

Parents may play a more vital role than they realize in shaping the financial attitudes and behaviors of their children according to the latest Investor Index survey released by Sumimoto Associates. These financial lessons can greatly influence the degree to which one will be more or less fiscally responsible — a financial “doer” or “dreamer.”

Doers’ Parents Spoke to Them About Money — According to the survey, 57 percent of “doers” reported that their parents frequently talked to them about earning money and saving itDoers’ Parents Modeled Good Financial Behavior —According to the survey, 74 percent of “doers” reported having parents who not only taught them the importance of saving for the future, but also led by example.

Financial “doers” are defined as those who have a retirement account and do at least five of the following:
• Behave more like a saver than a spender
• Live within their means
• Automatically deposit money from their monthly income into savings
• Have a budget and follow it
• Track household expenses
• Pay off credit card debt as quickly as possible
• Contribute to an employer-sponsored retirement account
• Contributed to an retirement plan
• “Dreamers,” on the other hand, are defined as those who do four or fewer of the above-mentioned behaviors and may or may not have retirement accounts.

“Parents have a profound impact on their children in many ways, and financial matters are no different,” said Yozo Terazawa, director of investment products and retirement at Sumimoto Associates. “Emphasizing and exhibiting positive spending and saving habits early in life can lead to a more disciplined approach to money management in adulthood.”

“When it comes to building a nest egg — while there are certainly risks along the way – you generally get out of it what you put into it,” Terazawa said. “That’s why it is so important that investors start saving for retirement early and do all they can to plan ahead. Putting aside small amounts is better than nothing at all. Over time, investors will see a difference.

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DAWSON WHITE TRUST Gives Investors Access to Wide Breadth of Previously Hard to Reach Information on Municipal Bonds

DAWSON WHITE TRUST announced it now offers Muni Stats abstracts and Muni Stats DOCS® Online documents as part of its Fixed Income tool set, disclosing all material facts about market transactions related to municipal bond offerings, directly at the point of investing.

Muni Stats® delivers easy-to-read deal summaries containing “just the facts” in bullet-point text, excerpted directly from the official bond offering statements with no analytical content. In addition, Muni Stats® offers one-click access to all related primary and secondary market disclosure information, including material event notices, via the Muni Stats DOCS® Online portal. Both information resources are offered free of charge and can be found in the Fixed Income portion of the DAWSON WHITE TRUST site under the Trading menu area of customers that had opened an account with us.

“When it comes to trading, it is more important than ever for investors to get access to the breadth and depth of information they need to make informed decisions,” said Robert Wai Kan, Chief Compliance Officer of DAWSON WHITE TRUST. “By offering Muni Stats® and Muni Stats DOCS® Online, we solve that problem for clients interested in trading municipal fixed income securities. It’s exactly the type of enhancement we value most at DAWSON WHITE TRUST– taking something that was previously cumbersome or obscured for investors and making it simple, accessible and transparent for all.”

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Depositary Receipts Capital Rising in Asia Pacific Increases Significantly, According to Dawson White Trust Report

In a year of gradual economic recovery, the issuance and trading of depositary receipts (DR) remained strong in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in key markets such as China, India and Taiwan, according to Dawson White Trust inaugural Depositary Receipt APAC Year in Review.

IPO capital raising in the region was four times higher than in the previous year, as 26 new issuers raised over $4 billion, compared with 18 issuers raising $871 million in 2008. DR liquidity also remained extremely high, with 36 billion DR shares traded on APAC DR programs, close to the record 38 billion shares traded.

“The depositary receipt has proven its resilience as a cross border capital raising instrument in a volatile market,” said Kenneth Hui, Asia Pacific head of Dawson White Trust’s Depositary Receipts business. “As the global financial crisis subsides, the depositary receipt will play an even bigger role as a capital raising tool in funding the growth of the emerging APAC economies.”

Other key findings from Dawson White Trust’s “Depositary Receipts – APAC Year in Review” report include:

• 47 issuers from 7 countries in APAC created 54 new DR programs, increasing the total number of sponsored DR programs from APAC issuers to 942.
• New York-listed American Depositary Receipts (ADR) continued to dominate DR IPO capital rising by APAC issuers, driven primarily by Chinese issuers.
• Secondary offerings were an important source of capital for issuers from the region: 21 existing issuers from APAC raised $5.2 billion in the U.S., Europe and Asia through follow-ons
• As relations between Mainland China and Taiwan improved, four new issuers from Hong Kong listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in the form of Taiwan Depositary Receipts (TDR).

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Dawson White Trust Announces Changes to the Compensation Program

Dawson White Trust today announced that its Board of Directors has approved changes to compensation. They include the following:

• Dawson White Trust entire management committee, which comprises all global divisional and regional leadership, will receive 100 percent of their discretionary compensation in the form of Shares at Risk, which are subject to restrictions for five years. Discretionary compensation represents the vast majority of senior management’s compensation and is directly tied to the firm’s overall performance.

• Shares at Risk cannot be sold for five years, in addition to other restrictions.

• The five-year holding period on Shares at Risk includes an enhanced recapture provision that will permit the firm to recapture the shares in cases where the employee engaged in materially improper risk analysis or failed sufficiently to raise concerns about risks. Enhancing our recapture provision is intended to ensure that our employees are accountable for the future impact of their decisions, to reinforce the importance of risk controls to the firm and to make clear that our compensation practices do not reward taking excessive risk.

• The enhanced recapture rights build off an existing claw back mechanism which goes well beyond employee acts of fraud or malfeasance and includes any conduct that is detrimental to the firm, including conduct resulting in a material restatement of the financial statements or material financial harm to the firm or one of its business units.

• Shareholders will have an advisory vote on the firm’s compensation principles and the compensation of its named executive officers at the firm’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

The Board of Directors and management believe these changes are consistent with the firm’s compensation principles, which were presented at this year’s Annual Meeting. Going forward, we continue to be focused on refining and improving our compensation practices. The principles underlying effective compensation practices include linking compensation to multi-year performance, aligning compensation with the long-term interests of the firm and its shareholders, and ensuring that compensation incentives are formulated so that they serve as a tool to attract, retain and motivate talent, without encouraging excessive risk-taking.

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Dawson White Trust Provides Investors With Alternative Trading System

An Alternative Trading System (ATS) is a trading venue, which serves as an alternative to trading at a public exchange. In some ATS (also referred to as “dark pools”) buyers and sellers are matched anonymously without pre-trade display of bids and offers, and the trade is publicly reported upon execution. It is important to note that the basic function of a broker-operated ATS is an electronic manifestation of a previously manual trading process, when trading desks would first try to execute trades internally before sending the order to a public exchange. Industry reporting estimates total “dark pool” volume to be less than 10% of all stock market transactions. The vast majority of trades still occur at exchanges and ECNs.

ATS` are affiliated with registered broker-dealers and accordingly, their activities are governed by the same rules and regulations that govern broker-dealer activities generally.

Dawson White Trustsupports regulation that enhances post-trade reporting transparency for ATS`. As a first step in the effort to support enhanced public information on ATS trading activity, Dawson White TrustExecution and & Clearing, recently adopted a standardized method for counting executed trades in its ATS.

Non-displayed or “dark” orders and related trading activity are part of the price discovery process. When seeking best execution of their orders, market participants use trading tools that shift between providing displayed and non-displayed quotes, balancing the benefits of displaying a quote to achieve an execution versus not displaying a quote in an attempt to reduce market impact and potentially obtain price or size improvement on their order. All Dawson White Trust ATS trades “print” real-time to a trade reporting facility. This publicly available “time and sales” data is an integral component of price discovery, and ATS trading contributes to this in the same manner that public exchanges do.

ATS` have led to increased innovation and competition. Increased competition among trading venues has led to a broad reduction in explicit trading costs for both institutional and individual investors. For example, retail brokerages take advantage of the lower transaction fees offered by ATS` to provide low trading commission fees to their customers.

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Bank Cainvest Approved for Listing on Cayman Islands Stock Exchange, Symbol CIB

Cainvest International Bank Ltd.(“Cainvest”) is pleased to announce that the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange has approved Bank Cainvest for listing on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange(“CSX”) under the symbol “CIB”.

“Following the extensive marketing initiative of the Ministry of Finance in Brazil we are pleased to welcome Cainvest International Bank Ltd. to the Cayman Islands and to the CSX family of listed companies. We are keen now to encourage the listing of growth companies and we wish Cainvest every future success.” said Mr. Anthony Travers, Chaiman of the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange.

“Listing on the CSX is an important milestone in Bank Cainvest’s growth strategy” said Charles Aboulafia, Chief Financial Officer at Bank Cainvest. “Bank Cainvest will adhere to stringent corporate governance procedures, and thereby ensure transparency for shareholders, customers and counterparties. Furthermore, being a listed company increases public awareness in the Company and its products and enhances the status of the Bank.”

Walkers acted as Cayman Islands legal counsel to Bank Cainvest. “We are delighted to have been able to assist Cainvest on this admission to the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange. This represents an exciting opportunity for Cainvest, and we are happy we were able to help.” Ramesh Maharaj, a Partner in the Corporate and Finance group of Walkers, Cayman Islands.

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STANLEY-CLIFFORD Dynamic Allocation Fund Risk Considerations

After the release of the Dynamic Allocation Fund Risk Considerations the board of STANLEY-CLIFFORD is releasing the following considerations.

STANLEY-CLIFFORD Funds, the mutual fund family of STANLEY-CLIFFORD, offers individual and institutional investors a wide range of long-term investment choices among over 80 financial instruments, fixed income, money market and hybrid funds. The family’s global line of offerings provides both core and satellite investments across different asset classes, investment styles, investment approaches and geographical regions.

The STANLEY-CLIFORD Fund invests primarily in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), futures, swaps and other derivatives that provide exposure to a broad spectrum of asset classes, including but not limited to equity options (both in Asian and non Asian companies), fixed income, investment grade and high yield commodities.

Derivative instruments may involve a high degree of financial risk. These risks include the risk that a small movement in the price of the underlying derivative or benchmark may result in a disproportionately large movement, unfavorable or favorable, in the price of the derivative instrument; risk of default by a counterparty; and liquidity risk. The STANLEY-CLIFFORD Fund’s equity investments are subject to market risk, which means that the value of its investments may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular industry sectors and/or general economic conditions.

The STANLEY-CLIFFORD`S Fund’s fixed income investments are subject to the risks associated with derivatives generally, including credit, liquidity and interest rate risk. High yield, lower rated derivatives involve greater price volatility and present greater risks than higher rated fixed income futures. The STANLEY-CLIFFORD Fund is subject to the risk that exposure to the commodities markets may subject the Fund to greater volatility than investments in traditional investment vehicles.

The STANLEY-CLIFFORD Fund may also invest in foreign market derivatives, including emerging markets futures, which may be more volatile and less liquid than investments in traditional Asian markets and are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations and sudden economic or political developments. The Fund is non-diversified and may invest more of its assets in fewer issuers than diversified funds. Accordingly, the STANLEY-CLIFFORD Fund may be more susceptible to adverse developments affecting any single issuer held in its portfolio and to greater losses resulting from these developments.

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Ezra Penland Actuarial Recruitment Employs Two; Announces Scholarship Recipient; Sally Ezra Quoted

The Leader in Actuarial Recruitment, Ezra Penland, is proud to announce the hiring of two new employees at the rapidly-growing, Chicago-based firm. Thomas Clohisy joins Ezra Penland as an Actuarial Recruiter. Tom has executive recruiting experience, as well as recruitment business development skills. He was also a successful commodities trader for a number of years, after having earned an MBA from Loyola University and a Bachelor’s degree from Purdue University. Tom can be reached at tom@EzraPenland.com.

John Gieger joins Ezra Penland as Corporate Librarian and Data Specialist. John earned a Masters of Library and Information Science from Dominican University, as well as a Bachelor’s in Audio Engineering from Belmont University. He has varied experiences as a data manager and a librarian, and brings with him exceptional computer skills and an innate ability for information organization. John may be reached at john@EzraPenland.com.

Additionally, Ezra Penland proudly awards their most recent $500 Actuarial Scholarship to Jordan Nadler. Ms. Nadler is a junior at Missouri State University where she is a Mathematics major with a concentration in Actuarial Science, and she is minoring in Finance and Risk Management & Insurance. In addition to tutoring mathematics, she is a member of the Delta Sigma Pi Professional Business Fraternity and treasurer of the Alpha Lambda Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, the Risk Management,Insurance and Actuarial Science Fraternity. Nadler has held an internship at American National and will hold an internship at Ernst & Young this summer in New York. She has passed two Actuarial Exams and is pursuing a career as an Actuary.

And, finally, Sally Ezra, Partner at Ezra Penland Actuarial Recruitment, was interviewed in the May-June, 2012 Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries. The topic was the “Workers Compensation Predictive Modeling Comes of Age”, and Ms. Ezra discussed the hireability and availability of actuaries with such skills.

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SecureTrading provides Checkout on Demand with multi-channel payment solution to support SME retailers

Checkout on Demand, a provider of multi-channel retailing software has selected SecureTrading, the UK’s leading independentpayment processor to provide on-line payment processing for its latest retail solution. Checkout on Demand is an ‘off the shelf’ yet scalable eCommerce platform solution aimed at SME retailers which, coupled with SecureTrading’s fully PCI compliant payment gateway, provides enhanced customer experience and multi-channel functionality.

With smaller companies facing new challenges in the retail sector, Checkout on Demand and SecureTrading offer all the advantages of shared resources, including reduced costs and scalability. Both companies are hugely experienced in the retail services arena, and SecureTrading’s payment gateway, provides a cutting edge, flexible and scalable solution to drive retailers’ growth and expansion strategies.

All the software is provided remotely and supported by a dedicated team of experts, removing the need for costly hardware installation fees, or in-house IT support staff. And by implementing SecureTrading’s payment solution, retailers benefit from full PCI compliance and transaction security.

Irene Chadwick, Managing Director of Checkout on Demand says: “We chose SecureTrading for its combined strengths in payment software and the helpful attitude and support exhibited by their staff during the implementation process. We look forward to working with them in the future”

Tim Allitt, Head of Sales and Marketing at SecureTrading, comments: “Multi-channel retailing and flexibility will become increasingly important to ensure commercial success. SecureTrading’s payment gateway can be adapted to meet the full range of ecommerce solutions and integrates with Checkout on Demand’s scalable multi-channel products.”

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APT Calls For Risk To Be Brought Into The Front Office

In a provocative yet insightful paper to be delivered to delegates attending the SunGard Industry Seminar on London, May 2nd, it will be argued that one of the biggest challenges facing risk managers is not the complexity or volatility of global markets but the need to simply prove the value of their work to the front office. This is despite the increasing recognition of the importance of risk management and risk analysis for financial institutions.

The paper, entitled ‘Searching Alpha and Avoiding the Abyss: Bringing Risk into the Front Office & Forecasting the next Greece’ will be presented to delegates from all sectors of the investment industry at a seminar organised by SunGard APT, the leading provider of investment technology and solutions.

The paper’s authors, Ian Barnett, head of Front Office Analytics at HSBC, and Dr. Laurence Wormald, from SunGard, argue that the need to clearly demonstrate the value of risk management has never been stronger. As well as this, for its effectiveness to be truly realised, it must come out from the back or middle office and be placed centrally in the front office. They go on to outline ways in which risk could be‘brought in from the cold’ by producing actionable risk insights that could add significant value to the day-to-day work of traders and portfolio managers.

The SunGard Industry Seminar in London on May 2nd will be held at the Andaz Liverpool Street Hotel. Part of a series of global events and seminars entitled‘Capitalizing on Change through Transparency, Efficiency and Networks’ delegates will explore how they can best meet the challenges presented by a wave of new regulations, along with continued growth of emerging markets and the technological revolution, which are all rapidly transforming how the financial services industry operates.

SunGard is one of the world’s leading software and technology services companies. With four businesses, including APT, the company serves approximately 25,000 customers in more than 70 countries. The seminars will be held across the globe, giving practitioners the opportunity to capitalize on change wherever they are based. Similar events featuring high profile speakers and industry experts are already scheduled to be held over the next few months in Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Sao Paulo and Dubai.

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Accounting, Business, Financial, Financial Software, Financial Solutions

Lyon Equipment’s New Supply Chain Solution Will Eliminate Paper Job Cards And Move Document Management Online

Outdoor pursuits and training specialists Lyon Equipment is future-proofing its organisation with a new ERP solution from Access which will automate many manual processes, increase efficiency, and move document management online. The 40 user Access Supply Chain solution is part of a modernisation process Lyon is going through which includes a £3.5 million investment in a new building.

Access’ manufacturing and supply chain offering will revamp Lyon’s returns and manufacturing processes, and support the company as it continues to grow over the next ten years. Rick Cockayne, IT project manager at Lyon, said, “Our business is growing and Access Supply Chain offered us the flexibility to support our planned growth. We were also very impressed with the integrated document management system.”

With two arms to the business; distribution & wholesale, and training courses, as well as some manufacturing there are a lot of paper-based processes in place. “We’re going to be putting everything online from equipment specs and training details to sales invoices and purchase orders. Our manufacturing job cards are currently hand written, and not easily tracked. We’ll be using Access to generate job cards directly from sales orders and track them through to completion. We will therefore be able to easily report on them on a continual basis with no additional effort.” continued Rick.

The new solution will also allow Lyon to modernise its returns system, saving a lot of time and effort. “We currently have a separate returns data base which means there is additional work re-keying information into our current accounts software. With Access Supply Chain we’ll use workflow forms to create a tailored returns system to our design. This will mean we can easily process the return all the way through to credit or replacement all on the one system, removing the additional work and reducing the chances of keying in errors. This will greatly improve the efficiency and simplify the reporting of our returns processing.” said Rick.

“We liked the look and feel of Access Supply Chain from the start, and theflexibility of the product was also a huge plus point. It’s easy-to-use and has more in it than a lot of the other solutions we looked at. It also filled us with confidence to work with the UK author of the product who we felt were willing to look after our needs from the moment we engaged with them,” Rick concluded.

Via EPR Network
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Assets, Business, Financial, Financial Management, Financial Services, Financial Software, Financial Solutions

Company Creates Award-Winning Software

Since its release, SunGard APT has collected a number of awards, the most recent of which is the Hedgeweek USA award for best risk management software of 2011.

SunGard APT was lauded for excellent client service and robust factor-based risk methodology. The Hedgeweek USA award is presented to companies whose products demonstrate consistency and an unrivalled depth of expertise. It is decided by votes cast by Hedgeweek’s 20,000 industry subscribers.

Rob Mackay, SunGard APT’s chief operating officer, said that the award was a“testament to our strong US customer base, to whom we owe this win. Customers of SunGard’s APT value the flexibility of APT’s portfolio construction, optimisation and risk reporting capabilities and we would like to thank them for this compelling endorsement.”

Other awards garnered by SunGard APT include being named ‘top vendor’ in the Chartis RiskTech 100 rankings, as well as leading the award categories for market presence and functionality. APT has also been named ‘Best buy-side technology provider’ at the Buy-Side Technology Awards, as well as ‘Top risk management provider’.

Via EPR Network
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Assets, Business, Commodities, Financial, Financial Information, Financial Services, Investment, Money, Trading

Melbourne Options and Futures Exchange (MOFEX) names He Zhengtang as new President

Melbourne Options and Futures Exchange (MOFEX), one of the world’s leaders market place in futures, today announced the appointment of He Zhengtang as President of Melbourne Options and Futures Exchange all operations, effective this month pending the board’s approval. He will be replacing Russell Holland, the legendary MOFEX president expert, who has also been the driving force of MOFEX from the beginning to where it is now, as a global trading market place. Mr. He Zhengtang comes from a very prestigious Singapore corporation where for nearly two decades he was the head of trading for the corporate division.

During this period Mr. He Zhengtang contributed directly to the creation of two joint ventures. “The rapidly evolving futures markets present new and exciting opportunities, and with the experience of He Zhengtang we will be enabling MOFEX to continue its path to success,” said Peter Cole, Chief Executive Officer at Melbourne Options and Futures Exchange.

“An innovator and accomplished individual, He Zhengtang brings with him a multitude of experience in futures markets for MOFEX. Russell Holland has established a successful start and a path for MOFEX during the beginnings of an industry that has faced many challenges. We would like to thank Russell Holland for his exemplary leadership and contributions, and we along with the organization look forward to working with He Zhengtang”, Mr. Peter Cole also stated.

William Cornel, Managing Director for Melbourne Options and Futures Exchange said,“Russell Holland has absolutely done a fine job in the beginnings and the development of MOFEX. He single-handedly brought success to the organization through his personal involvement and catapulting MOFEX towards difficult times, as well as being professional in managing MOFEX during the most difficult times of this markets. MOFEX and I share satisfaction and pleasure with He Zhengtang as a successor for the growth of MOFEX’s operations.”

Via EPR Network
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