News

SAGE selected as a “Hot Banking Tech Company To Watch In 2010”

An independent research firm has named SAGE Group SA a “hot banking tech company to watch in 2010.”

SAGE is a financial technology firm that develops banking solutions. Its flagship product, Prospero, is a suite of nine separate modules that cover all aspects of financial operations, including asset management, wealth management and fund administration. It was recently cited by Forrester Research Inc. in its July 2010 report entitled “Hot Banking Tech Companies To Watch in 2010: Q2 Update” which describes technology companies that are addressing challenges in key banking industry processes.

Download the system overview on Prospero here.
For more info, use this form.

SAGE reviewed in IBS Wealth Management Technology Vendor Report. Prospero as a serious contender in wealth management systems

IBS Intelligence, the leading consulting and research firm dedicated to the financial technology industry, recently published a report that analyzed and reviewed wealth management system offerings of leading international technology vendors in the wealth management core system market. The report was managed by Martin Whybrow, editor of IBS Intelligence (previously IBS Journal).

The IBS Intelligence-Wealth Management Systems Market Report 2010 evaluated the wealth management systems offered by 16 select technology vendors, including SAGE Group SA, a leading financial technology firm specialized in the development of banking solutions. The report only included systems that not only covers the core processing aspect but is also specifically tailored to the wealth management industry. All systems included in the report have been sold on an international basis.

The report described the functionality and modularity features of SAGE’ flagship wealth management product offering, Prospero, a serious contender in the wealth management market. The system works on latest technology and enables all functionalities to be rolled out entirely via a table-driven environment, eliminating the need for coding and proprietary scripts to manipulate.

The report also noted that Prospero takers are institutions that span all sizes and that SAGE has also gone international, earlier than most of the vendors in terms of clients and users outside of its Switzerland base. It also mentioned that “The breadth of the system means it also competes with some specialists, in areas such as asset management.” The report concluded that SAGE offers in Prospero a broad and flexible system for the Wealth Management market.

SAGE is proud of the inclusion of Prospero in the study as it confirms its competitiveness and credibility in the wealth management area, especially since this is not the first time that Prospero has been reviewed. Prospero was previously ranked in Celent’s study of top European wealth management vendors.

SAGE Group SA’s CEO, Jean-Luc Freymond, states that “The IBS report reaffirms SAGE’ experience and readiness in delivering new and reliable technology for the wealth management sector.” Freymond emphasizes that “SAGE is confident in its challenge to further grow globally as we endeavor to become the solution of choice for global financial institutions. We have adopted an innovative model that adapts to the economic downturn: fast and modular rollout, pay-per-use model and handing of simple and complex financial products. This model improves firms’ ROI and increases the conversion rates of leads to clients.”

Prospero is a product of SAGE Group SA (www.finartis.com), a software development company that specializes in servicing the global financial industry. SAGE is becoming the new reference for integrated, modular and innovative Front to Back-Office banking solutions. Established in 1986 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland; it has offices in Geneva, Dubai, and Singapore. For more information, you may contact info@finartis.com or use this form.

Finally, one system for asset management and wealth management. Investment banking made simple

Prospero is your edge if you want to run your asset management and wealth management activities in one system.  Prospero is a comprehensive system for asset managers, portfolio managers, financial advisors and relationship managers. It combines a wide breadth of functionality to manage funds, discretionary portfolios, advisory portfolios and trading activity. It covers the full cycle of any trade on any product: from the portfolio analysis phase, to decision taking and execution, and to the final booking. Prospero handles funds’ subscription and redemption distribution, investors’ ledger and NAV calculation for any type of fund.

Benefits to financial organizations are wide, such as:

• Slashes operational costs
• Reduces operational, market, and credit risks
• Removes maintenance costs on different systems
• Facilitates quick launching of new products
• Allows implementation of strict compliance alerts
• Enables access to the system over the web

The list of Prospero benefits and features are extensive and SAGE Group SA invites you to contact us at info@finartis.com or any of our offices for more information on our products or for a free demo:

Asia-Pacific:
SAGE Financial Systems Pte Ltd in Singapore at +65 6911 6640

Europe:
SAGE Group SA in Lausanne at +41 21 653 6401

GCC and MENA:
SAGE Advanced Solutions FZ-LLC in Dubai at +971 4 428 1385

SIX Telekurs and SAGE announce collaboration and unveil integrated service. A real-time desktop trading platform for relationship managers and traders

SAGE Group SA and SIX Telekurs have announced their partnership and unveiled the integration of SIX Telekurs’ real-time quotes into SAGE’ banking system Prospero. Prospero’s front-end is a real-time desktop terminal targeted at Relationship Managers and traders. Prospero’s trading platform provides traders, Relationship Managers and clients with an accurate view of market fluctuations in real time. SIX Telekurs extends its comprehensive global data offering by teaming up with expert partners to offer clients value-added solutions.

“This new partnership has been developed in response to market requirements from existing and prospective customers, and adds greater functionality to the flexible, cost-effective, and customizable Order Management System of Prospero,” said Patrick Rotzetter, Head of Business Development at SAGE Group SA.

“The combination of SIX Telekurs’ comprehensive global real-time market data offering and the powerful analytical and trading tools of Prospero provides Portfolio Managers, Investment Advisors and Wealth Managers with up-to-the-second access to significant information,” says Paul Bollhalder, Managing Director of SIX Telekurs, Asia Pacific ex Japan.

Prospero’s front-end is running on state-of-the-art technology and its integration with SIX Telekurs adds tremendous value to clients who want to benefit from the best of both worlds: reduced risk, thanks to real-time market information, and a one-stop shop for traders and client-facing professionals. Its streaming capabilities are accessible from Web browsers, providing users with the flexibility to trade and run queries regardless of their location.  

Contacts:

SIX Telekurs
Paul Bollhalder
Managing Director
Telephone: +65 6347 8580
Sales.sgp@telekurs.com

SAGE Group SA
Tarek Hamdan
CMO
Telephone: +971 4 428 1385
tarek.hamdan@finartis.com

SIX Telekurs
As a leader in its field, SIX Telekurs specializes in the procuring, processing and distributing of international financial information. Financial market specialists at SIX Telekurs gather information from all the world’s major trading venues – directly and in real-time. The SIX Telekurs database with its structured and encoded securities administration data for nearly 6 million financial instruments is unique in terms of its depth of information and data coverage. With offices in 23 countries, SIX Telekurs combines the advantages of global presence and local know-how.

SIX Telekurs is a SIX Group company. On a global scale, SIX Group offers first-rate services in the areas of securities trading, clearing and settlement, as well as financial market information and payment transactions.

Further information is available at: www.six-telekurs.com

SAGE
SAGE Group SA is a software development company that services the global financial industry. SAGE develops Prospero, a modular financial system that offers clients an integrated front-, middle- and back-office system. SAGE’ goal: Help financial professionals focus on what they do best–managing money, not systems.

Rollout of SAGE’ trading system. Operations streamlining of a complex trading environment

SAGE Group SA has successfully rolled out the latest version of its trading platform in a global firm headquartered in Switzerland which specializes in commodity trading and has offices throughout Europe and in the USA. SAGE provided a core solution that streamlines the full trading process and reduces operational and market risk.

Jean-Luc Freymond, CEO of SAGE Group SA, comments: “Our system brings unprecedented control of the group’s risk by monitoring margins in real time. The platform ensures that trading is fully compliant with rules and standards of both local and international markets.”

Tarek Hamdan, CMO of SAGE Group SA, adds: “The trading platform’s architecture fully automates all operations required to run acomplex trading environment and to comply within the jurisdictions in which it does business. All of the firm’s locations will surely benefit from the large productivity gains brought about by our system.”

For more information on this news, please contact SAGE at +41 21 653 64 01 (Switzerland).

Order management system from SAGE. New module for Prospero

Prospero Wealth Advisor is a financial software for the complete Order Management System (OMS) for the buy-side and the sell-side communities with a real Straight Through Processing system for all products. Prospero combines analytics and electronic trading of any product such as stocks, bonds, funds, Forex, Derivatives, Structured Products, Deposits and DCDs, New issues and IPOs.

Discover a full suite of functionality with Wealth Advisor with links to global news and data. It can also be linked to the buy-side FIX network and plugged with third party back-office or electronic-trading networks. It integrates front-, middle- and back-office systems and increases efficiency of processes and workflows.

This state-of-the-art and incredibly user-friendly online trading dashboard can be used by clients, traders and relationship managers and handles speedy execution of deals.

For more information on this news, please contact SAGE at +41 21 653 64 01 (Switzerland).

SAGE joins events in APAC and MENA

It is a busy April for SAGE Group SA as it joins 2 events in Asia: The Asian Banker Summit in Singapore and MEFTEC (Middle East Finance and Technology Exhibit and Conference) in Bahrain.  After a successful partnership with The Asian Banker for a roundtable meeting with private bankers and wealth managers late last year, SAGE’ branch in Singapore again teams up with The Asian Banker on its 11th Summit. The Summit is to be held from the 18th-21st of April at the newly-opened Resorts World. The Summit is Asia’s most significant event for the banking and financial industries, focusing this year on emerging markets and its new players. Heading towards the Middle East, SAGE’ office in Dubai Internet City is, for the third year in a row, joining MEFTEC, the largest Banking Software exhibition in the region. The 2-day event is to be held this year from the 20th-21st of April at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre (BIEC). It is the region’s biggest and most efficient avenue for bankers and information technology providers to converge and exchange views.

SAGE Group SA will be presenting the following products at the said events:

Prospero
A revolutionary financial software that integrates front-, middle- and back-office systems, thereby filling all needs of portfolio managers, brokers, traders and other financial professionals, such as risk and operations managers. Prospero modules cover all aspects of financial operations including Wealth Management, Asset Management, Fund Administration, Internet Access: Wealth Advisor, Independent Financial Advisor, Treasury, Trading, Credit Management & Margin Trading, and Core Operations. Modules can be implemented separately or as an integrated whole—and all will interface with a legacy system as part of a best-of-breed approach.

Wealth Advisor
A web-based RM dashboard with full trading, CRM, lead management, reporting and financial planning features.

To know more about our products and arrange meetings, contact our branch nearest you at the following numbers:

• SAGE Financial Systems PTE LTD in Singapore at +65 6911 6640 and
• SAGE Advanced Solutions FZ-LLC in Dubai at +971 4 428 1385.

SAGE and Ocean Technology announce partnership to market Prospero in Vietnam

SAGE Group SA and Ocean Technology have signed an agreement to market Prospero, a revolutionary financial software, in Vietnam.
Recent growth of the financial services sector in Vietnam has created a demand for new products and services–in particular, software that simplifies the banking and asset management process.

SAGE’ Prospero meets that demand. The software integrates front-, middle- and back-office systems via multiple modules covering all aspects of financial operations, including asset management, risk management and administration. Modules can be implemented separately or as an integrated whole, and all interface with legacy systems.

“Prospero is flexible enough to cater to the requirements of Vietnamese investors and asset managers,” says Patrick Rotzetter, chief business development officer of SAGE Group SA. “It will help medium to large investment firms achieve best practices in banking and asset management.”

Rotzetter says Ocean Technology–a consultancy firm that has assisted in the technical transformation of a number of banking and finance firms in Vietnam–is the ideal partner in the marketing of Prospero in Vietnam. The company, which has a deep knowledge of the Vietnamese market, has already successfully delivered a number of financial solutions to clients throughout Southeast Asia. These have included core banking, mobile banking and card management/ATM switch solutions. The company boasts an impressive client roster, including Techcombank, GP Bank, Vietnam-Russia Bank, Viet A Bank, Nam A Bank, Cement Finance Company and the Foreign Trade University.

“Given the recent growth of the financial services sector in Vietnam, we looked for a system that could provide a flexible yet comprehensive solution for clients seeking wealth management services,” says Rick Rodgers, COO of Ocean Technology. “The Prospero platform delivers a fully integrated system with both the financial planning tools and the back-office trading and accounting functions our clients require.”

“This agreement shows SAGE’ commitment to participating in the growth the Vietnamese market,” says Rotzetter. “We look forward to rolling out Prospero there.”

About Ocean TechnologyOcean Technology is a consultancy firm that delivers high-performance software solutions to financial services companies throughout Southeast Asia. It represents a new trend in Vietnam: the blending of local expertise with global standards and practices for technology integration. As it continues to expand, its central focus remains the same: its customers.

About SAGE
SAGE Group SA, established in 1986 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, is a software development company that services the global financial industry. Prospero, its flagship product, offers clients a seamless way to integrate front-, middle- and back-office systems. SAGE’ goal: Help financial professionals focus on what they do best–managing money, not systems.

For more information on this news, please contact SAGE at +41 21 653 64 01 (Switzerland).

SAGE hosts dialogue with major wealth management players in Singapore. Balancing IT with staff capabilities

The wealth management industry seeks a new model and a better reputation.

With challenges to the wealth management industry coming from all directions–from regulators, clients and top management–The Asian Banker and SAGE Financial Systems hosted in Singapore a roundtable dialogue with key wealth managers and private bankers from OCBC, Standard Chartered Bank, UBS and UOB to discuss key issues in the industry.

Participating bankers outlined as one of their most pressing general concerns the lack of proper segmentation in some aspects of the wealth management industry. This is manifested in the knee-jerk reactions by regulators who may not understand the wealth management needs of the different tiers of clients–from the unsophisticated mass-market investors to ultra-sophisticated high net worth individuals–that have led to harmful “broad-brush” regulations. While there used to be distinct regulations between mass market and private banking, where the private bank really enjoyed certain exemptions because of dealing with sophisticated investors, new regulations show that the distinction is narrowing fast.

Another key point for the bankers was that IT support for both sides of the business should be clearly differentiated and tailored to the various customer bases and business models; while the IT  infrastructure remains less vital for the private banking business as long as relationship managers (RMs) have the experience to build a trusted relationship, the lack of a stronger technology component to provide support for RMs who need better resources to sell more efficiently in the mass market segment has harmed the industry as it struggled with rapid expansion. “In the mass market business, IT needs to be embedded all the way from front to back,” said Wyson Lim, head of wealth management at OCBC. “Institutionalising advisory with IT may help ensure quality of advice is not compromised.”

The industry has under-invested in technology and over-invested in RMs, particularly in the mass market areas, leaving institutions vulnerable to poaching exercises by rivals, but also squeezing their profits as new regulation extends the selling process and RMs deal with an increasingly complex marketplace. ”The advisory process for the mass affluent market is getting more and more regulated, this requires  stronger support by IT solutions to manage risk and help the relationship managers to propose the right products to their clients,” added Patrick Rotzetter, chief business development officer for SAGE Group SA.

Revisiting the role of IT in the business model for wealth management means improving resources for mass market RMs in order to lighten the burden of handling risk management and compliance measures and allow them to focus on relationship building. “It has become a compliance exercise rather than a real fact-finding discovery exercise with the client, trying to help construct a portfolio for a client,” said Lim. “We may have lost the meaning of advisory.” However, IT still needs to be balanced correctly with the “human element,” and it needs to be highly customizable for the various segments and complex product needs of the industry.

A unified approach

Contrarily, participating bankers also supported a unified approach in other areas, such as regaining the confidence of clients in their ability to serve. “Restoring trust from an industry point of view–more on the mass affluent and the retail side than the private banking side–is extremely important, because if we don’t do that, if we don’t do it collectively, it would take much longer to restore trust, if at all,” said Lim.

Another unified measure was the creation of an industry lobby group or representative body to come up with codes of standards on marketing practices and incentive structures, to present industry issues and concerns to regulators, and to promote a more level cross-border playing field. “I was hoping that the crisis would be deep and hard and force us to get together to self-police at a level that made sense amongst professionals,” said Bryan Henning, global product head, wealth management, Standard Chartered Bank. “Now with the rebound, we’re all back in our holes doing the exact same things we used to do before, rather than getting together as an industry to agree on appropriate standards which will ensure sustainable growth going forward.”

Participants agreed that the business model for wealth management has been under strain due to tremendous cost and efficiency pressures, which exacerbates the need to introduce more sustainable business models and scalable processes to an industry that suffers with each downturn of the business cycle. As wealth management businesses and private banks have resumed the model of hiring RMs as they gear up for growth, wage inflation can be expected; additionally, new regulations that lengthen the time of conducting a transaction are pushing the cost of doing business higher still. Training RMs will also be a serious challenge due to the complexity of the business in Asia, which considers multiple asset classes, geographies and currencies.

Searching for new carrots

Incentive structure has been one of the most contentious issues in wealth management, just as it has in nearly all parts of the financial services industry. Clearly, certain products should not be over-incentivized, and revenue that is earned should be counted evenly across all products. Deferment for certain products will be needed; that will include clawbacks for RMs who leave before long-tenure products have matured, as would be a move to a discretionary model that is not based on just revenue or AUM, but has linkages to the performance of a team or a business unit. Even outside of the issue of RM incentives is the problem of client incentives, where the marketing of wealth management products has traditionally included incentivization by offering gifts, which has also led to wrong client behaviour.

Recent problems related to the mis-selling of structured products have been a major determinant in the entire business dynamic of the wealth management industry and have introduced troubling elements. Leveraging the media storm around the case of Lehman Brothers mini-bonds being sold to  unsophisticated investors, even sophisticated clients are complaining to regulators that they should be treated the same and be given compensation for losses on structured products. Participating bankers also emphasized a need to control buyer bias towards inappropriate products that veer dangerously away from proper portfolio construction or asset and fund allocation, which can also lead to inappropriate investment strategies. Given the importance of making strong decisions with personal wealth, it is clear that better financial literacy programmes, and even “certifying” investors as sophisticated, are key measures needed to force investors to take responsibility for their investments over the long term.