Advent Software, Inc., a provider of software and services to the investment management industry, has made product and data services enhancements to address the upcoming cost basis rule change, which will require financial custodians to report adjusted cost basis information to the IRS via Form 1099.
The product and data services enhancements will make it easier for investment management firms to stay in sync with their custodians, brokers and trading partners, and will also help clients be more efficient by supporting new workflows resulting from the cost basis reporting regulations. The Company has made updates to custodian interfaces, reports and trading integration points to facilitate cost basis reporting and reconciliation.
In addition, Advent has been providing ongoing education on the potential impacts of the legislation and serving as an advocate and facilitator for its clients, ensuring that critical communication moves forward between investment management firms and their custodians, brokers, trading and post-trade vendors.
Tower Group Research Director, Sean Cunniff, commented, “Meeting the cost basis reporting deadlines is and will continue to be an enormous challenge for the financial industry. This has been one of the largest areas of technology spend in 2010 and will continue to be for at least the next two years. Financial institutions have had to update systems, change policies and procedures and revise customer protocols. Investment managers and advisors will need to ensure that cost basis is synchronized across multiple systems and custodians.”
“Over the past year, Advent has focused on understanding and evaluating the impact of cost basis legislation on our clients in order to help them minimize the operational impacts of complying with the new regulations,” said George McLaughlin, a Senior Director at Advent. “Through our program of workflow enhancements, client advocacy and training and education, we are confident that our clients will be able to successfully navigate the cost basis legislation changes in 2011 and beyond.”
D.C.