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Portware, A FactSet Company
It is almost exactly two years since Portware was
acquired by FactSet. The stated goal was to integrate
Reliability and Availability
the Portware trading and analytical tools to comple-
Latency
ment FactSet capabilities and improve the productiv-
ity of FactSet users as a result. Portware was also seen
Client Service Personnel
as innovative and fast growing in an exciting area.
Ease-of-Use
Based on response numbers the Portware business
Handling of New Versions/Releases
appears to have flourished under its new ownership
during the last twelve months. Response num-
Breadth of Broker Algorithms
bers nearly doubled. This year saw almost half the
Timeliness of Updates for Broker Changes
responses coming from Asia, while North America
FIX Capabilities
and the UK accounted for the remainder. Relative-
ly speaking Portware saw more responses from
Breadth of Asset Class Coverage
institutional managers than hedge funds and it is
Breadth of Direct Connections to Venues
clear that the appeal is largest among the very large
Product Development
asset managers. Over 60% of respondents had AuM
in excess of $50 billion. Interestingly Portware saw
Ease of Integration to Internal Systems
a higher proportion of multi-asset class users than
Overall Cost of Operation
any of the other profiled providers. However, based
on respondent comments, some clients would like to
Portware
see better overall
asset coverage
as well as better pre
2016
2017
and post-trade analytics. That suggests that further
5.85
5.98
improvement could be seen with an even greater
5.91
5.67
level of integration.
In terms of the 5.42
scores in 2017, 5.58
there was a small
decline in the overall result. It remained better
5.84
5.51
than 5.50 across all categories, but was down by
0.14 points. This 5.24
result is more 5.20
than acceptable, but
behind the very best
In relative terms the
6.09 outcomes. 5.99
strongest area of performance was in the number and
5.56
5.85
breadth of broker trading options, where Portware
saw an average of 5.78
very close to 5.75
6.0 (Very Good). In
nine categories Portware
beat
the
overall average
5.29
5.13
score but in a number of cases the difference was
6.02
5.72
insignificant. Some of the weakest scores were in the
4.98 of Operation,
5.22
area of Overall Cost
where Portware
scores were 0.30 5.71
points below the
Survey level. This
5.65
could open the firm up to competition over time,
5.57
4.94
though the effectiveness of capabilities is more likely
to determine future success than simply price.
5.85
5.98
Reliability and Availability
Latency
5.67
5.91
5.42
5.58
Client Service Personnel
Ease-of-Use
5.84
5.51
5.24
5.20
Handling of New Versions/Releases
6.09
5.99
Breadth of Broker Algorithms
5.56
Timeliness of Updates for Broker Changes
5.85
5.78
5.75
FIX Capabilities
5.29
5.13
Breadth of Asset Class Coverage
Breadth of Direct Connections to Venues
5.72
6.02
4.98
5.22
Product Development
5.71
5.65
Ease of Integration to Internal Systems
Overall Cost of Operation
4.94
0.00
1.00
2.00
2016
3.00
4.00
5.00
5.57
6.00
7.00
2017
Issue 53
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