In the latest of our Culture and Diversity interview series, we speak with Anders Rodenberg, CEO at Denominator, a global Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) data & scoring provider. In this interview, Anders tells us about the ESG data evolution in financial services and the lasting benefits that clear, actionable DEI data brings to the workplace. 

FINBOURNE speaks to Joanna Munro, CEO, HSBC Alternatives and Bhavini Parmar, Alternatives Product Delivery Manager at HSBC Asset Management. Joanna and Bhavini are both members of the Diversity Project’s new Future Female Fund Manager’s Pathway. In this interview, we hear about their experiences and why programs like these are crucial to creating parity in financial services.

FINBOURNE Technology was recently selected to become the technology infrastructure provider for the Bloomberg, MarketAxess and Tradeweb initiative to build a consolidated tape (CT) for fixed income in Europe.
Following this announcement, FINBOURNE’s CEO, Thomas McHugh, shares his thoughts on why we’ve taken on this herculean challenge.

Seilern Investment Management, the independent and privately-owned quality growth investment management firm, has selected FINBOURNE Technology’s Modern Financial Data Stack to scale its investment operations, amid rapid growth. The firm will leverage FINBOURNE’s LUSID platform as a cloud-native data hub, to enhance its investment-decision making and client services.  

While sustainability, climate change and biodiversity have taken the spotlight for much of this decade, ESG is not about sustainability alone, it’s about people and planet. If the best performing companies on mainly green performance indicators are not delivering on wider DEI factors, then can they really be considered ESG-compliant? FINBOURNE’s Matthew Luff considers the growing lack of correlation across E, S and G metrics, with data and analysis from Denominator and Corporate Knights.

On this International Women’s Day, the official United Nations theme for which is incidentally, ‘Innovation and technology for gender equality’, we talk to Julia Streets, tech and entrepreneurship champion and active campaigner for innovation, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

FINBOURNE Horizon is our suite of partnerships and interfaces with third party vendors and service providers. The program enables data to be imported and exported, while also adding new functionalities desired by clients. It forms a curated ecosystem for our core products, enabling users easy, integrated access to a broad range of specialist solutions, helping… Continue reading Introducing FINBOURNE Horizon

FINBOURNE Technology today announces a new partnership with market-leading investor voting Fintech, Tumelo. Integrating Tumelo’s voting technology into FINBOURNE’s cloud-native investment management data management platform, LUSID, will help fund managers better understand and reflect investors’ voting interests.  

FINBOURNE Technology recently participated in a rigorous tender process, against a number of industry peers, to become the technology infrastructure provider for the Bloomberg, MarketAxess and Tradeweb initiative, to build a consolidated tape (CT) for fixed income in Europe. We’re pleased to announce that we have now won the tender to work with these leading firms.

FINBOURNE speaks to Arun Kelshiker, Vice Chair of CFA UK’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Arun talks about the disparity in minority representation within the Financial Services industry and the real business benefits of embracing cognitively diverse teams to fuel innovation and empower the next generation.

FINBOURNE Technology announces a partnership with market-leading debt provider, Kreos Capital, to secure up to a £30 million debt facility. The funding forms an extension to FINBOURNE’s Series A round and strengthens FINBOURNE’s efficient capital structure, enabling it to swiftly respond to market opportunities, as it expands its international footprint.

In conversation with FINBOURNE Technology , Liz Pfeuti, Chief Client Officer of Rhotic Media, talks about how technology has revolutionised the investment industry and why there are still so many barriers facing women.

As part of our Culture and Diversity Series, FINBOURNE Technology interviews three leading industry groups to evaluate progress on under-representation in financial services, discuss future DE&I goals for the sector and the organisations driving change. 

In this blog, we explore the common barriers to operational change and how firms can de-risk the process of innovation to become future-ready, with a SaaS-native Modern Financial Data Stack.

Welcome back to FINBOURNE Five, a series succinctly covering core data management approaches and concepts in five minutes or less. In this latest piece, we explore the makeup of FINBOURNE’s Modern Financial Data Stack (MFDS), its ability to de-risk operational change and importantly, how it can future-proof investment operations, to fuel growth.

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) and FINBOURNE Technology have today published the second in a series of new reports, which analyses EU sovereign and public bond trading data consolidated from numerous sources for the period of March to December 2021. This report follows an earlier April 2022 report which focused on the corporate bond trading landscape.

In the first of this two-part blog, we explored the role of a fit-for-purpose CT, combined with an interoperable API framework and how these combine to deliver value. In this second part, we discover the different approaches firms will take, based on their existing technology and systems and why a holistic approach to CT data provides the best foundation to assess liquidity and reap market opportunities.

In this two-part blog, we uncover the benefits of a fit-for-purpose CT, combined with an interoperable API framework and a holistic approach to organisational data; and why together, they are key to unlocking the value of transaction data in a consolidated tape, for firms and the market as a whole.

Despite a steady rise of female representation in the workplace, the lack of females in leadership and decision-making roles remains a global issue. FINBOURNE partner and DEI data provider, Denominator, highlight the stark reality of gender inequality in the workplace, in its recent findings. The article explores the need for quantifiable and standardised data to hold companies accountable, while also empowering them to create meaningful change for women across the world.

Welcome back to FINBOURNE Five, our series of short ‘explainer’ blogs on all things data management, in five minutes or less. In this second installment, Sales Engineer, Stephen LeMasney, explores the critical factors to consider when looking for a SaaS data management platform, and why a cloud-native platform with innate financial sense is crucial to gaining immediate value and driving operational growth.

In the latest edition of our ‘Life at FINBOURNE’ series, we speak to Kevin Roice, one of eight Durham University graduates to join this year’s summer internship programme. Hear about Kevin’s experience, what he enjoyed most and why he thinks FINBOURNE is an excellent place for interns to kick start a career in FinTech.

FINBOURNE Technology today announces a new partnership with global Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) data & scoring provider, Denominator. The partnership aims to closely support the global Buy Side, as it responds to increasing demands for DEI transparency, amid a new generation of value-based investors.

Welcome to FINBOURNE Five, our new series that succinctly covers core data management methods or concepts in five minutes or less. In this first blog, we cover data virtualization and some of its practical applications in global financial services.

In this latest blog, Stephen LeMasney, Sales Engineer, shares his insights into how Python and Jupyter can be integrated within a 21st century data stack to drive efficiency and form a compelling tool for business users who want to learn new data skills.

In this Q&A, Michael Cummins, portfolio management lead at FINBOURNE Technology, deconstructs some of the key findings from the recent AIMA Emerging Stronger industry report. The Q&A uncovers the vast opportunity that rising allocator interest brings, and the operational challenges that emerging hedge funds can tackle with SaaS technology to achieve scale and success.

Mittal Shah discusses the value of D&I to Financial Services businesses, based on the stark findings of recent industry research. The article explores why D&I still has a way to go in financial services, the need for leadership buy-in and the significant benefits it can deliver to the business, its employees and society at large.

In part two of this commentary, and following our recent attendance at TSAM London, Stephen Collie, Head of Sales Engineering, FINBOURNE Technology explores the makeup of the modern data stack and how incremental innovation is critical in the transition to an interoperable future.

In part one of this commentary, Stephen Collie, Head of Sales Engineering, FINBOURNE Technology, summarises the main challenges raised in the keynotes and panels at The Summit for Asset Management (TSAM) in London, and why speaking the same language is vital to creating operational resilience.

FINBOURNE Technology, announces the appointment of Robert Byrne in the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) as it continues to forge ahead with its cloud-native, API-first investment data management platform; LUSID. The appointment marks the next phase of growth for the fast-moving SaaS scale-up, which now stands at over 140 employees, globally.

3 May 2022 – The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has today published a first of its kind study consolidating fixed income trading data from numerous sources for the period of March to December 2021. This shows that the majority of fixed income trades could be made transparent in near real-time, but also… Continue reading AFME/ Finbourne study demonstrates need for longer deferrals for large and illiquid trades and shows transparency could be significantly improved for majority of smaller fixed income trades

Private markets funds are leading the way in sustainability but with new regulatory measures, a changing investor profile and increasing due diligence, Matthew Luff explores how an interoperable approach to ESG data management can make all the difference, and form a vital tool in the private fund managers’ toolkit.

Addressing ESG data at the root of investment management operations will be critical in the coming years. So, how do asset managers monitor and respond to climate change and biodiversity risks, and importantly show progress not only against targets, but in generating real change?

Following engagement with the major stakeholders, and FINBOURNE’s own Design Council, Neil Ryan, FINBOURNE’s CTP Lead, explores the hurdles both the UK and EU authorities face, as they move towards a Consolidated Tape or Tapes (CT). From data quality to deferrals, we explain why market practice – in parallel to legislation – provides the optimal path forward, to the creation of a resilient market mechanism.

At nearly USD 3 trillion, digital assets such as cryptocurrencies are enjoying their hey-day as the new ‘digital gold’ and the hedge fund industry is no stranger to the asset class. FINBOURNE’s Michael Cummins and Tim Wong explore the allure of cryptocurrencies for systematic hedge funds and why achieving scale and diversification, through the use of SaaS technology is essential to striking gold.

This week we finally got to the bottom of a perplexing issue that we have been examining for a number of months now. We had been seeing intermittent HTTP timeouts or other unusual disconnection problems affecting LUSID, our investment data management platform. These were most obvious in our build pipeline, where they were causing test-failures.

With the discussion around the Consolidated Tape (CT) picking up the pace in both the UK and the EU, we believe there are a number of opportunities and challenges to be addressed – including data quality issues – to achieve a fit-for-purpose market mechanism.   Neil Ryan, CTP Lead at FINBOURNE Technology, explores the benefits of… Continue reading A deconstructed view of a consolidated tape

While hedge funds are currently enjoying a renaissance, the scale of global assets under management has not gone unnoticed and regulation is set to play a major role in the industry in 2022. The question is, how will this impact hedge funds across the globe and how will fund managers continue to secure capital allocations and respond to market opportunities, while sailing in unchartered waters?

FINBOURNE speaks to Nadia Edwards-Dashti, Co-founder and Chief Customer Officer at the technology recruitment firm, Harrington Starr. We hear about her career journey, her new book and her efforts to transform the finance industry in the future.

In part two of Asset Management 2022 vs 2035: from surviving to thriving, we fast forward to 2035 and look at how SaaS technology, fintech innovation, and a new on-demand era has changed the way asset managers operate in the future.

Read part one of our blog to understand how interoperability can build a bridge from the systems of the past, to an ecosystem of future innovation…

As FINBOURNE turns 5, CEO and Co-Founder Thomas McHugh pens his thoughts on being a mission-driven company, as we move from start-up to scale-up. And why challenging the status quo, to solve diminished trust, transparency and timeliness of data, has a clear social impact across the investment ecosystem.

Back in 2019, we spoke with Daria Deluermoz, one of FINBOURNE’s first graduate hires, about her first few months as a software developer. Two years on, we catch up with Daria to hear more about her current role and what she enjoys most about working at FINBOURNE.

Railpen, one of the largest pension funds in the UK, with c.£35 billion AUM, has opted for FINBOURNE’s cloud, investment data management platform, LUSID, as its Investment Book of Record (IBOR).

Amid the ‘Great Resignation’, many firms are increasingly under pressure to retain and attract talent, and future-proof operations. None more so than the hedge fund industry, where vast volumes of investment, market and reference data is submerging people and processes today. Thomas McHugh explores the impact of legacy software on hedge funds and why investing in the right technology will attract a more motivated workforce, boost productivity and protect business continuity.

FINBOURNE Technology has joined the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets’ (AFM) regulatory sandbox, to drive the creation of a Consolidated Tape Provider (CTP).

Christopher Farrell, COO of FINBOURNE Technology, explores the current challenges buy-side firms face with ESG data, highlighting the need to establish a new standard for ESG data management to make sustainable finance a success.

As COP26 draws to a close, it is clear that the urgency for change, together with investor demand for greater transparency and new reporting requirements will significantly shape the future of Sustainable Finance. But to create meaningful change, the industry must first overcome the ESG data challenges it faces today. FINBOURNE speaks to Sue McLean and Caitlin McErlane at Baker McKenzie, a leading global advisory and legal firm, to learn their perspectives around the critical roles of technology, data, and regulation. 

Baillie Gifford, a global investment partnership with £352bn (US$ 486.8bn) assets under management, has selected FINBOURNE Technology’s investment data management platform, LUSID, as the Investment Book of Record (IBOR) for its global investment operations. The platform will deliver a consolidated source of real-time investment data across Baillie Gifford’s equity, fixed income and multi-asset portfolios.

Thomas McHugh uncovers the human cost of inaction when it comes to data overload in the buyside. And why more than anything, firms need to move away from burnout and towards data empowerment. De-risking operational change and solving the limitations of legacy tech, is critical to breaking the status quo of inertia. The question is: can you really afford to live with the data overload, any longer?

In our recent views shared on Consolidated Tape (‘CT’), the issue of data quality was highlighted as central to the CT debate. Some may argue it is even hampering the development of a Consolidated Tape Provider (CTP) in the UK and the EU.

In this latest article, Thomas McHugh explores the perfect storm that asset managers are heading into, as we move towards more heavily regulated markets and grapple with a failing investment process. And at the centre of it, is the inability to access, understand and control data.

FINBOURNE Technology’s SaaS investment data management platform, LUSID will be adopted by LSEG – London Stock Exchange Group – wealth and investment solutions businesses as a digital data component.

Following on from our last insight on Consolidated Tape (CT) and the launch of our Design Council, we explore why the technology that underpins the CT, is key to ensuring that it is fit for purpose, no matter what the decided approach.

Chris Brook, Co-founder and Head of Platform Engineering, FINBOURNE Technology, shares the limitations of the new tech trend ‘low-code, no-code’ as it applies to investment management operations.

Neil Ryan, Regulatory Consultant at FINBOURNE Technology, explores the renewed drive for a Consolidated Tape (‘CT’) and why FINBOURNE’s Design Council will provide a vocal platform to promote and develop the conversation in both the UK and the EU.

While asset managers are not in the business of data management, there is no denying that data is central to investment management. Accessing and understanding data in the investment chain is crucial.

The incoming Chief Data Officer (CDO) is transitioning into the organisation. His predecessor is “seeking exciting new opportunities outside the organisation”. On his way out after the handover week the outgoing CDO hands his replacement three numbered envelopes…

FINBOURNE Technology and FlexTrade Systems announce a collaboration to integrate FlexNOW with FINBOURNE’s LUSID platform.

– Fidelity selects FINBOURNE’s LUSID platform to drive data strategy for its global asset management business – Fidelity International Strategic Ventures invests into FINBOURNE’s latest funding round Fidelity International, London, 21 July 2021: To address the growing need to prioritise data as a strategic asset and to better serve its clients with new growth initiatives,… Continue reading Fidelity International onboards FINBOURNE’s LUSID platform and makes strategic investment

FINBOURNE Technology, in collaboration with the Financial Times, also hosted a panel on capitalising on the power of data in asset management. Thomas McHugh, FINBOURNE Technology’s co-founder and CEO participated in the session alongside the Chief Data Officers of OFI Asset Management and UBS Asset Management. Watch the full session here. On investment data management… Continue reading Capitalising on the power of data in asset management

Thomas McHugh, FINBOURNE Technology co-founder and CEO participated in a session on Understanding the resilience of ESG and impact investing in the face of COVID. He was joined by the CEO of HSBC Asset Management, the Global Head of sustainability at BNP Paribas, and the CEO of International Federated Hermes in a quality discussion. Watch… Continue reading Understanding the resilience of ESG and impact investing in the face of COVID

Taskize, the leading provider of inter-company workflow to the financial services industry, has been chosen by FINBOURNE Technology as a component of its award winning LUSID open investment platform.

HFM hosted another great EU Tech Summit this Monday, 22nd of February covering popular and pressing topics with industry experts. FINBOURNE was excited to participate in the panel on Alternative Data for Traditional Managers.

Earlier this week we held a webinar discussing illiquid markets. This blog highlights some of the themes that arose: the origins and nature of the liquidity challenges, the data solution to those challenges and how the right toolset will empower gathering, consolidating and incorporating the data solution not only to inform allocation strategies, but also… Continue reading Operating in illiquid markets: Consolidating disparate data sets to develop your investment insight

In our last API blog post, we looked at how an API-first strategy reduces operational costs and enhances access to data. In this piece, we set out what a good quality API looks like and examine some of the ways in which the right API-first platform can transform how you access and manage your investment… Continue reading APIs for the investment industry: What does good look like?

The rapid growth of sustainable and impact investing is accelerating and the buy-side is making a concerted effort to respond to the needs of their clients. Early in 2020 Deloitte asserted “ESG-mandated assets in the United States could grow almost three times as fast as non-ESG-mandated assets to comprise half of all professionally managed investments… Continue reading Five tips for automating ESG in the investment process

Last week, we participated in a webinar at HFM’s European Technology Forum. I spoke on a panel with Michael Fastert, COO and CLO at TIG Advisors, and Doron Gutstadt, CTO of Taconic Capital. Read on to get a snapshot on: Hedge funds: Taking a collaborative approach to driving technology decisions In our webinar poll of… Continue reading How technology can give you the edge as you grow your fund

This week, we sit down with Chris Dearie, Deputy CEO, and Roland Anderson, CTO of TP ICAP’s Data & Analytics business. In a wide-ranging chat, we discuss how TP ICAP is providing insights as well as data to buyside clients and the potential game-changing impact Google Cloud could have on the buyside.

In this piece we take a look at the challenges the transition could present to the buy-side, regulatory considerations and how flexible architecture could present a solution to mitigating some of these challenges.

In this interview, Gus Sekhon, our head of product, sits down with Aviva Investors’ Michelle Calcutt and Andrew Morrison to talk all things customer experience related.

Investment fund infrastructure has not typically been optimised for the rapid exchange of information, but rather for functionality around a narrow set of instruments, vendor services and third-party administrators.

In today’s interview, Dermot Shortt, FINBOURNE Chairman sits down with Olivia Vinden, Alpha FMC’s Head of Fintech and Innovation. We discuss automation, how buyside firms are using data analytics in distribution as well as their investment processes and why ecosystems are so important today.

In the first of our FINBOURNE interviews series, Dermot Shortt, FINBOURNE Chairman sits down with David Pierson, Director, OMBA Advisory & Investments.

This post is about Weave, our customisations, and a Weave related production issue that FINBOURNE encountered and resolved in the last couple of months.

Last week we held a webcast with The Trade where we did something we think is unusual: we defined an Investment Book of Record (IBOR). Not by what it is – that’s a fairly commonplace categorisation – but by what it does.

This blog looks at the solution we implemented to fix an issue with the Python SDK which was very difficult to pinpoint.

In this piece we look at how the concept of the OMS became popular, what problems it sought to address, how today’s complex investment environment is testing the capabilities of the OMS and the alternative solutions available.

A couple of weeks ago, many companies across the country were faced with the challenge of having to transition their whole workforce to remote working overnight

This week, I spoke on a panel at the HFM European Technology Summit about the future of hedge fund technology. Here are my thoughts following the panel.

FINBOURNE Technology has signed a partnership with TraderMade to make its data available on LUSID, the open investment data platform.

We’re delighted to have won ‘Best Buyside Newcomer’ at Waters’ Buy-Side Technology Awards for LUSID, our open, API-first and developer friendly investment data platform.

Legacy systems and data limitations are major barriers to implementing an effective machine learning strategy. In this blog post, we explore how the right technology can help investment managers overcome these barriers.

Increasingly diversified investment strategies, closure of mutual funds, the rise of passively managed funds and companies racing to consolidate. It’s easy to say the asset management industry is slow to change but when you look at it from the outside, it’s being pummelled by change in all directions. How do you adapt to external change… Continue reading Change is inevitable. Growth is optional

This post is the second in a series looking at investment data management topics that come up regularly in our work with fund managers. We’ve spoken with around 100 small hedge funds and asset managers specifically to learn about their experiences setting up platforms and operations, and growing the business. This post concerns the fund… Continue reading Fund start-up pain and making mistakes for the long term

Daria Deluermoz, one of our first graduate hires – talks through her route to FINBOURNE, her first few months in the job and what a typical day looks like.

The problems that an IBOR is trying to solve are well understood, but there are many shortcomings with the approach. The best analogy that we’ve come across came from a recent conversation with the CDO at a global investment firm. He compared implementing an IBOR with building a self-driving car. For a vehicle to be… Continue reading Do you even need an Investment Book of Record (IBOR)?

While retail banks have mostly been dragged kicking and screaming into the UK government-backed Open Banking initiative, the fund investment industry should treat it as an opportunity to remove unnecessary cost, connect more closely with their customers and build better services.

EDI’s data is fully integrated into the demonstration portfolios available when you sign up to LUSID. In addition you can upload your own portfolios and value them using EDI data.

This is the first in a series of posts looking at some of the questions we’re regularly asked about improving the investment data management process. Today we’re looking at reconciliations.

On a recent cycle ride, a fellow cyclist asked me what FINBOURNE does. Before I could reply a friend interjected with “FINBOURNE is building a ‘Strava’ for investment data”.

We read with interest a recent survey released by Alpha FMC revealing that asset managers see digital transformation as a top priority but two-thirds are slowed down by legacy systems and culture clashes.

Everyone knows that data is important, but do we really appreciate how important access to correct data is for the successful execution of an investment strategy?

Bitemporal data is a fundamental principle in our LUSID platform, yet the term is not very common amongst technologists nor business users. It can be a complex concept to describe, and I’ve been thinking of a simple example to help illustrate it…

FINBOURNE Technology launches LUSID™ a revolutionary replacement software system for the asset management industry.

Huge amounts of money are being spent on bolt-on regulatory technology. Why don’t we embrace the capabilities of our digital infrastructure and allow the data required by regulation to be gathered as part of the core business process. I worry that a lot of the RegTech industry is just barking up the wrong tree.

In our last piece, we said we would talk more about “transactions” being the meta-solution to a swathe of investment industry challenges

A big part of our story at Finbourne is maintaining an open communications channel with our customers, our partners and the community in general.

During the first quarter of 2017, European asset managers enjoyed inflows of EUR210bn – the highest in 5 years. This is great news and points to a wider theme that governments around the world are shifting responsibility for savings and retirement to the private sector – all good for investment managers.

Using nginx and oauth2_proxy to deliver S3 based content (and azure blob store)

Having spent the last 15 years cossetted in the big corporate world blissfully unaware of just how complex managing Identity and access control actually is, I can best describe my journey of the last month as enlightening. Emboldened by our mission and with the idea that we were, through the advent of cloud technologies, free from having to worry about such tedious things as user management, we embarked on our righteous path.

Azure currently has some pretty interesting rules and restrictions around how things can be named. At times they seem arbitrary, but none-the-less, it’s what we have to work with.