LatentZero, a leading provider of front office systems for the buy-side, has entered into a partnership with Markit Group, the leading provider of independent pricing, reference data, portfolio valuations and OTC derivatives trade processing for the global financial and commodities markets. Under the agreement, Markit’s credit derivative pricing for single-name Credit Default Swaps (CDS) and the iTraxx and Dow Jones CDX indices, together with the Markit Reference Entity Database (RED), will be integrated into LatentZero’s newly launched Capstone Derivatives module for the benefit of mutual customers.
The partnership will enable portfolio managers to accurately model, price and trade credit derivatives within the Capstone front office suite. Pre-integration of data feeds saves firms time and money when deploying a derivatives platform, and helps ensure that systems go live within hours. This enables users to trade immediately, rather than having to wait days or weeks.
“As derivatives have become a standard instrument in many portfolios, alongside more traditional asset classes, it is essential that asset managers have the appropriate systems in place to manage these more complex portfolios,” says Peter John, Capstone Derivatives Product Manager at LatentZero. “Specialist intelligence and real-time data feeds are essential, as is the flexibility to handle all asset classes. Our customers and prospects use Markit for derivatives intelligence, so incorporating their data feeds into Capstone Derivatives was a logical step for LatentZero.”
Capstone Derivatives is a fully functional tool designed specifically for the buy-side. The product provides a single integrated environment where derivatives can be modelled and managed alongside more traditional asset classes. It offers comprehensive derivatives analysis, deal structure and trading for individual or basket trades, as well as full workflow including trade modelling, capture, valuation and portfolio analysis, and support for swaps including credit default, interest rate, and cross-currency. Capstone Derivatives now integrates with all major derivatives data providers.
“The fast-paced move of buy-side investment management firms into derivative and structured products requires a high degree of integration with best-in-class data sets and portfolio management systems,” says Mark Hunt, Director, Product Development at Markit. “This gives portfolio managers the insight, control and regulatory comfort necessary to operate across complex asset classes with confidence. Markit is very pleased to work with LatentZero in offering such a solution for our mutual customers.”
Markit provides independent mark-to-market credit default swap (CDS) pricing drawn from over 60 dealing firms, and is the calculation agent for the iTraxx and Dow Jones CDX credit derivative indexes. Markit RED provides industry-standard reference entity and reference obligation identifiers used throughout the fast-growing CDS market.