Thomson Financial announced today that it had joined forces with Microsoft to create integrated research and analytical tools for fund mangers.
A new application built with Microsoft technology – especially.NET -will provide fund managers with access to Thomson content, including First Call research and morning notes, global analyst estimates, Datastream historical pricing and charting, Worldscope company accounts data, Carson Institutional holdings data and ILX equity pricing. The application, called Thomson First Call Analyst, will also allow customers to publish and integrate their own internally generated research and proprietary data.
“Thomson Financial is known to its customers as having industry-leading data and information, combined with speed of delivery and superior technology,” says Jeff Scott, chief technology officer at Thomson Financial. “When deciding how to integrate Thomson Financial’s data, analytics and services so that clients benefit from one seamless platform, Microsoft’s technology– most significantly .NET — was the right choice.”
“Microsoft sees .NET and web services playing a major role in the future of the financial services industry, ” adds Kenny McBride, Microsoft’s global industry manager for capital markets. “Thomson Financial’s choice for their integrated workflow solutions demonstrates how .NET brings together varied content and functionality into one seamless whole. Thomson Financial’s ability to provide seamless connectivity between their suite of products ensures that they enhance their standing as a leader in financial services.”
“This alliance is a win-win as it reduces cost and complexity for Thomson Financial, and allows us to deliver our best-of-breed content on a single platform,” adds Suresh Kavan, president, Thomson Financial’s Investment Management Group. “Investment managers win as they now can streamline their securities analysis and research workflow – a tremendous benefit to help them reach superior investment decisions.”
Microsoft and Thomson Financial are collaborating on a number of initiatives in messaging, database technology, desktop product integration and systems development.