New Offering to Help Financial Advisors Comply with MiFID Requirements and Enhance Quality of Investment Advice
Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC), a leading provider of financial market data, analytics and related services, announced today that its Managed Solutions group has launched a customisable, web-based offering that is designed to help financial advisors more efficiently comply with MiFID Conduct of Business obligations and develop strategies for improving the quality of their investment advice.
The new MiFID Advisor Suite includes five modules that offer detailed processes for a financial advisor’s workflow, including the online classification of clients, a suitability check of investments, portfolio valuation, historical record keeping and automated portfolio monitoring. The process can be archived for future reference. Interactive Data’s comprehensive new offering can be tailored to customer-specific requirements, seamlessly integrating financial market data and the customer’s proprietary bank information. Financial models are also available to help conduct, for example, a suitability check on a customer profile.
“With the MiFID Advisor Suite, we aim to support financial institutions in leveraging MiFID as an opportunity to improve the quality of their investment advisory services while helping them to capitalize on additional sales opportunities,” said Stephan Wolf, Chairman of the Executive Board at Interactive Data Managed Solutions AG. "These easy-to-use modules are designed to help our customers to optimise workflow, seamlessly integrate market data with internal bank information, efficiently implement their obligations under MiFID and present complex facts in a simplified manner that is designed to give meaning to market data.”
Improving Workflow with MiFID Advisor Suite’s Five Modules
The Conduct of Business module in the MiFID Advisor Suite has a user-friendly web interface that provides the advisor with guidelines to help classify their customers’ investment experience and objectives, as well as risk affinity. This information is date-stamped and archived and can be seamlessly integrated into the next module.
The Suitability Check module can help financial advisors assess investment recommendations based on a customer’s requirements and following risk classifications defined within MiFID. Up-to-date financial market data and investment product information is used to forecast the impact that investments may have on a portfolio. This information is date-stamped and delivered through easy-to-understand graphics and documentation.
The Portfolio Valuation module is designed to allow advisors to continuously monitor the performance of their customers' portfolios, as well as prepare comprehensive documentation that can be provided to the investor. This module encompasses a broad range of information, including an overview of portfolio positions with current valuations, details on dividends, interest and other payments, costs and fees, performance benchmarks, corporate actions, distribution across asset classes, performance per asset class and historical data, helping the advisor to meet the portfolio management reporting obligations specified by MiFID.
Advisors can opt to use the Documentation Archive module designed for quick and structured access to all documents prepared for a customer, including the results of Customer Classification and Portfolio Valuation reports. Data sheets on the recommended investments are also stored in this module.
The Cross Selling module is designed to make the advising process more efficient and make the advisor aware of new sales opportunities through alerting functions that can continuously monitor an investor’s portfolio.
Wide Range Of MiFID Offerings
The MiFID Advisor Suite is part of a broad range of products and services provided by Interactive Data’s businesses to help its customers comply with the obligations imposed by MiFID, including the requirements of pre- and post-trade transparency, evidencing best execution, trade venue selection and reviews of order execution policy, conduct of business and client classification obligations, transaction reporting, managing conflicts of interest and managing risk.
MiFID, which will be implemented in European Union (EU) member states in November 2007, broadens and strengthens regulation across Europe. It introduces a single market and regulatory regime for investment services across the 27 EU member states, plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein (European Economic Area states), which have chosen to adopt the requirements of MiFID.