Originally appeared on the Institutional Investor website, 8th November 2016, by Craig Mellow. Featuring RSRCHXchange and quotes from our Co-Founder Vicky Sanders.

Read the full article at www.institutionalinvestor.com

Originally appeared on the ftadviser.com website, 25th October 2016, by Dave Baxter.

Asset managers have reiterated concerns about increased regulatory overheads following a prediction that the unbundling of research costs required under Mifid II could wipe nearly 30 per cent from fund house profits…

Continue reading the full article at www.ftadviser.com

VENICE, FL—(October 25, 2016) – The Ned Davis Research Group (NDRG), a leading provider of objective, evidence-based investment research, analysis and market models, has partnered with RSRCHXchange to offer the NDR Advisory Service to institutional clients on the RSRCHX platform, the online marketplace for institutional research.

The NDR Advisory Service is a series of monthly, weekly and daily publications that delivers a concise version of NDR’s analysis, strategy and opinion to investors. It covers the work of nearly 40 analysts and strategists, across asset classes, from a firm that has a rich history of providing high value, relevant, empirically-based market research and insights.

The RSRCHX platform is a research aggregation, procurement and management solution built in consultation with both asset management institutions and research providers to address the challenges of MiFID II compliant research procurement. The RSRCHX platform launched in September 2015; research from over 140 providers is now available to approximately 1000 buy-side firms, and the number is increasing every day.

Matthias Paul, CEO of Ned Davis Research, said: “We are delighted to partner with RSRCHXchange to offer our advisory service to its institutional clients. RSRCHX is leading the way in the use of technology to help institutions fulfill their research procurement needs in this new regulatory environment. We intend to significantly further our reach with this relationship.”

Jeremy Davies, Co-founder of RSRCHXchange added:

“We are delighted to welcome Ned Davis Research to our growing universe of research providers. As we head towards an unbundled world for investment research in Europe, the demand for high quality, transparently priced market research and global economic analysis will only increase. We are thrilled to make Ned Davis Research services available to a wider asset management community via our RSRCHX platform.”

CONTACT INFORMATION

The Ned Davis Research Group
Leticia Doprado
ldoprado@ndr.com
50 Federal Street, 6^th Floor
Boston, MA 02110

RSRCHXchange

Matt Fincham, Streets Consulting

matt.fincham@streetsconsulting.com

About Ned Davis Research:

The Ned Davis Research Group (NDRG) helps investment management professionals make better decisions with unbiased, insightful and risk-appropriate quantitative indicators, strategy, models and analysis across asset classes. Founded in 1980 by Ned Davis, a noted market historian, NDR employs a unique 360° approach combining both fundamental and technical analysis. NDR also undertakes quantitative custom research projects for its clients. It has offices in Venice (US), Atlanta, Boston, London (UK), and San Francisco.

Originally appeared on the Flextrade website, 11th October 2016, by Ivy Schmerken. The piece includes quotes from our Co-Founder Vicky Sanders.

European regulators are pressing to unbundle research payments from executions. Experts say that a regulatory overhaul driven by MiFID II has the potential to disrupt the global research industry.

Many industry watchers maintain it will put pressure on sell-side firms that support teams of analysts as well as independent research providers. It’s not clear if firms will need to unbundle the menu of research services they provide, including research reports, calls with analysts, corporate access to management teams and conferences…

Continue reading the full article at Flextrade.com

Originally published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), 29th September 2016

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today (29 September 2016) published its third consultation paper on the implementation of the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II).

Some interesting points made in the consultation paper included:

‘a transparent, priced research market emerges where recipients and providers establish upfront pricing based on agreements linked to the quality and quantity of goods and services to be supplied, and the expected benefit to investors’

‘New third party business models may also include platforms facilitating the distribution, pricing and sale of third party research.’

‘We have already seen examples of new intermediary platforms facilitating buy-side access to priced research products or subscriptions from a range of service providers, which help both buy-side firms to access research on a priced basis and allows independent providers a distribution channel through which to advertise and sell their products and services.’

Read the Full Article at www.fca.org.uk and access the full consultation paper here.

Originally appeared in Handelsblatt, September 28th 2016, by Katharina Slodczyk.

Article discussing how new strict EU directives such as MiFID II are opening up new business opportunities to start-ups.

Read the full article in German at www.Handelsblatt.com

London, Stockholm, 21 September 2016: Infront, a leading trading and information solution provider for professional investors, today announced a partnership with RSRCHXchange, to provide its institutional clients with access to the RSRCHX platform, the online marketplace for institutional research.

The partnership makes institutional research, from more than 140 research providers, available on the Infront Terminal from 21 September and will provide Infront clients with a seamless integration between global real-time market information and research published on RSRCHX.

The RSRCHX platform is a research aggregation, procurement and management solution built in consultation with both asset management institutions and research providers to address the challenges of MiFID II compliant research procurement. The RSRCHX platform launched in September 2015; research from over 140 providers is now available to approximately 1000 buy-side firms, and the number is increasing every day.

Morten A. Lindeman, CTO and Co-Founder of Infront, said: “We are pleased to offer our clients a state of the art solution for accessing a marketplace of MiFID II compliant online research. This enables our Infront users to buy research in a more efficient, transparent and auditable way. We see this as an important step in following the future demands on how financial research will be consumed in a post-MiFID II world”.

He added: “Having this great research platform available in the Infront terminal makes it easier for asset managers to access, procure and pay for institutional research and by that potentially adjust investment decisions.”

Jeremy Davies, Co-Founder of RSRCHXchange, said: “We are very excited about the partnership with Infront. What we set out to achieve was to make research easy to find and access from any working environment. Not only will the collaboration make RSRCHX research accessible on the Infront platform; it will also open the research available on our platform to thousands of new users. Infront’s institutional buy-side clients can now access and procure research via one centralised platform. We look forward to working with Infront and their clients in the future.”

-ENDS-

Media contacts:

Infront - Magnus Lindelöf, Product Manager, lindelof@infront.no

RSRCHXchange - Sybille Mueller, Director, Streets Consulting, sybille.mueller@streetsconsulting.com

About Infront:

Infront is an advanced market information and trading platform for professional investors. It provides a unique combination of real-time global market data, news, analytics and powerful trading tools. Infront’s terminal, mobile apps and versatile electronic trading solutions connects thousands of professional users across Europe to their local and international markets – helping financial institutions to reduce costs and work more effectively. Infront owns Nyhetsbyrån Direkt, TDN Finans and Infinancials. More information at www.goinfront.com.

About RSRCHXchange

RSRCHXchange is THE online marketplace for institutional research. Built in consultation with asset management institutions and research providers, the RSRCHX platform is a research aggregation, procurement and management solution for institutional asset managers which radically modernises the way in which financial institutions buy and sell research.

Ahead of MiFID II unbundling changes coming into force in January 2018, the RSRCHX platform enables buy-side firms to access institutional research from over 140 providers in a more efficient, discerning and transparent way. The RSRCHX dashboard offers an automated way for asset managers to track firm- wide research consumption, to rate and evaluate the content they receive, to improve the procurement process and to ensure MiFID II compliance. At the same time, research providers benefit from access to a growing community of global buy-side firms and efficient payment, compliance and administration processes designed to help analysts focus on what they do best: producing insightful research.

Launched in September 2015 and headquartered in London, RSRCHXchange is the only research marketplace built to the specification of the international fund management industry, by experts with decades of fund management and research procurement experience. Our founders are committed to ongoing collaboration with both domestic and international asset management and research communities and continue to invest in additional functionality and platform enhancements. To find out more please go to http://rsrchxchange.com or follow us on twitter @rsrchx.

Originally appeared in Brummel Magazine, September 19th 2016, by Jemima Wilson.

Co-Founder Vicky Sanders is featured as part of a list of inspirational city innovators that was published this week.

To find out why and read the full list, visit brummelmagazine.co.uk.

Originally appeared in HFMCompliance, September 9th 2016

By Vicky Sanders, CEO RSRCHXchange

For a fund manager in the US, MiFID II and research unbundling has seemed distant for a while now. Both in the time to implementation, delayed a year to the beginning of 2018, and in physical distance, with the regulation emanating from the European Union. Global by nature, the financial research market is interconnected and governed by a sufficiently complex web of national regulatory frameworks. Because of this, regulation doesn’t often stay within the borders of the jurisdiction of the regulator creating the rules. Much of US regulation, whether recently Dodd-Frank or historically Elliott Spitzer’s Research Settlement, has been exported globally by the major US banks.

Recent meetings held by the US regulators have, however, brought MiFID II very much on-shore. MiFID II, which requires research to be unbundled from execution charges, introduces a contradiction for US broker-dealers. Under the 1934 Securities Exchange Act, US brokers are prevented from receiving direct payment for research unless registered as an investment advisor. Whereas, under MiFID II, banks and brokers must price and charge separately for their research services. Asset managers will be required to explicitly pay for research either from their own P&L or from a research payment account (RPA) funded by a direct fee to their clients or via a charge to clients collected at the point of execution. The SEC has acknowledged the major discrepancy between its own rules for broker-dealers accepting payments for research and the new European rules and it seems inevitable that something must budge.

There are options available to manage differences between jurisdictions, including, for example, a “no action” letter from the SEC. FINRA recently issued a filing suggesting that firms could use their international branches to facilitate sending research to EU clients and receiving payment in order to work around the conflict. The US could, as another alternative, adapt its own regulation to reflect the changes abroad. For the purpose of passporting to the EU, national regulators in places like Switzerland and Hong Kong are passing look-alike regulation to match the key components of MiFID II. And as we know, following the Brexit vote in the UK, passporting and therefore MiFID II become increasingly important with the phrase ‘regulatory equivalence’ on everyone’s lips.

From the perspective of a portfolio manager in the US, some see the new research rules fully implemented while others will remain relatively insulated for the time being. For an investment manager based in the US, receiving research only from US-based institutions, managing money for US clients, and trading US shares, there won’t be a tremendous amount of change other than some ripple effects. Many more will find themselves somehow wrapped up in the changes. Whether a satellite office of a EU-based fund manager or a US firm with an office abroad, many businesses have exposure to Europe and will begin to see the rules migrate across.

There are a few considerations for global businesses which make it difficult not to implement across their geographies. Global order routing processes, fairness to clients, and meeting the highest standard of global regulation are all factors pulling European rules across the Atlantic. Not to mention, more and more money is run in global funds and having different payment mechanisms for the same fund in different geographies quickly becomes unsustainable. Finally, if choosing to collect the charge alongside commission at the point of execution, then firms may actually be prohibited from charging different commission rates to different clients.

But this isn’t all bad news, bureaucracy and administration expense for asset managers; for many, having the freedom to pay for the content they actually want or need can be a liberating experience and one where they can improve their research inputs and better manage their costs. Where a marketplace for research develops in Europe, US portfolio managers may also find themselves with simpler access to a wide variety of research from banks who have been, to date, difficult to reach.

As we approach the fourth quarter, January 2018 is in sight and plans are beginning to emerge from asset managers and their banks and brokers. Committees are being formed to evaluate options and structures to adapt workflows to an unbundled world. National regulators in Europe, such as those in the UK, Germany and France, are releasing papers on research unbundling. US fund managers will look to their colleagues in Europe for guidance, but the wait-and-see time is quickly coming to an end. For US asset managers the need may be less pressing but it usually pays to be prepared as regulation is now a global phenomenon.
Vicky Sanders is Co-founder of RSRCHXchange, the online marketplace for institutional research