Markit Expands to Data Management With Cadis Takeover
Financial information vendor Markit has pushed the envelope from supplying raw data and analytics to data infrastructure.
It has agreed to buy London headquartered enterprise data management specialist Cadis, which operates a platform used by investment banks, insurance companies, asset managers and hedge fund to consolidate and normalize data from multiple sources within a centralized hub. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed
A statement issued by Markit says that Cadis' chief executive Dan Simpson will join Markit as a managing director and run operations as a business line alongside Markit Analytics; Markit Portfolio Management and Markit on Demand. Markit Analytics offers market risk, credit risk, regulatory capital and credit valuation adjustment services while Markit Portfolio management provides a suite of software products to managed bank loan portfolios and structured deals efficiently. Markit on Demand provides design, development and hosting services for financial websites.
Markit, best known for providing data and valuations on over-the-counter derivatives and fixed-income products, has been on the acquisition path ever since its inception in 2001 with Data Explorers, a stock lending analytics firm based in London and Quantitative Services Group, a Chicago-based quantitative research specialist as the latest additions to its family. Data Explorers' data includes supply, demand and market rates such as the value of securities loaned, the value of securities to be borrowed and fees charged; its Risk Explorer application measures the risk fund managers face in holding collateral against loaned securities. QSG provides factor analysis which helps fund managers better time their purchases and sales of securities as well as transaction cost analysis which helps them understand the explicit and implicit costs of their deals.
The takeover of Cadis now positions Markit squarely in the competitive enterprise data management arena where regulatory initiatives are prompting firms to ensure data quality and consistency throughout their organization. Among the three most notable ones are the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act in the U.S., the global Basel III and Europe's Solvency II all of which share requirements for risk metrics and reporting which is dependent on data. Markit officials declined to specify how Cadis' EDM would be incorporated into the Markit infrastructure. Data management specialists predict that users of Markit's data and analytics will benefit from the consolidation and normalization of data Cadis' EDM platform offers while existing users of Cadis' EDM platform will likely benefit from turnkey feedhandlers adding Markit's data to their repertoire.
"Following this acquisition we will be able to provide our customers with Cadis' market-leading data management solution which comes with a fantastic track record in successful implementation," says Lance Uggla, chief executive of Markit in the statement issued by Markit. Company officials wouldn't disclose the total number of clients Cadis brings to the table but say that last year alone it signed up 19 new customers. On its website Cadis highlights the fast implementation time for its EDM platform and an array of links to front-end systems. It cites Prudential; ING; Loomis Sayles; Robeco; SCOR Global Investments and Indexium as among the clients signed up last year. The firm recently announced it won Northern Trust and Federated Investors as customers.
Written by Chris Kentouris, Editor-in-chief (Chris can be contacted through Chris.Kentouris@hotmail.com)
