Interactive Data names Cort Williams president, sales organisation

Source: Interactive Data

Interactive Data Corporation (NYSE: IDC), a leading provider of financial market data, analytics and related services, today announced that Cort J. Williams will become president of Interactive Data's sales organization.

In this role, Williams will have responsibility for the Company's sales, client relationships, and customer service-oriented functions focused on institutional clients. Williams will transition into this role when, as previously announced, Raymond D'Arcy, president, sales and marketing, becomes Interactive Data's next president and chief executive officer during the first half of 2009. Williams will report directly to D'Arcy in his new role.

Williams, 49, is currently senior vice president of Interactive Data's Major Accounts and Business Development Groups. In this role, he oversees Interactive Data's sales teams responsible for the Company's largest global institutional relationships and its extensive, growing network of redistributors, which includes leading service bureaus, financial software and systems companies, and information media firms. Williams has two decades of sales, marketing and business development experience at Interactive Data. In recent years, Williams led the implementation of Interactive Data's Major Accounts Group, which provides centralized relationship management to its largest and most strategic customers. He also has played an instrumental leadership role in broadening the Company's redistribution channel from less than 50 redistributors to over 400. His prior experience at the Company also includes responsibility for strategy, marketing, acquisitions and alliances for the business now known as Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data.

"Ray and Cort have worked together since shortly after Cort first joined Interactive Data's sales organization 20 years ago," stated Stuart Clark, Interactive Data's president and chief executive officer. "This long history of collaboration will help provide continuity in the way we approach our customers and manage our client-facing staff. Over the past decade, Cort has played a pivotal role in working with our senior management team to identify opportunities to expand our institutional business, and then helping to lead the initiatives required to realize those opportunities and achieve our growth objectives."

Ray D'Arcy, Interactive Data's current president, sales and marketing, stated, "Since my selection as Interactive Data's next president and CEO, it was important to identify who will lead the institutional sales organization so that we can seamlessly transition into our respective new roles when Stuart retires later this year. Cort's many contributions over the years include leading the expansion of our redistribution channel, as well as developing and implementing the centralized framework we now rely upon to enhance and expand our relationships with many of our largest and most strategic institutional customers. Cort will join an accomplished, experienced senior management group that is focused on implementing the strategies and tactics that we believe will fuel our growth worldwide and bring compelling value to all stakeholders."

"I am excited about the opportunities in front of Interactive Data as we continue to work collaboratively with customers worldwide to deliver products and services that address their needs," commented Cort Williams. "Financial institutions are increasingly recognizing the compelling value of Interactive Data's combination of independent evaluations, low latency datafeeds, extensive range of related global reference data, managed solutions and other complementary services. I look forward to working with my colleagues across Interactive Data to further fortify the trust that our institutional customers continue to place in Interactive Data."

Roger Sargeant Appointed Managing Director, International Business

In addition to Williams' appointment, Interactive Data also announced that Roger Sargeant, managing director of Interactive Data Europe, has been appointed managing director, international business, effective immediately. In this role, Sargeant, 42, will be responsible for leading Interactive Data's institutional business outside of North America. Among his priorities will be to align the Company's resources in Asia Pacific more closely with those in Europe and the Middle East. Jim Farrer, managing director of Interactive Data Asia-Pacific, will report directly to Sargeant.

Commenting on Sargeant's promotion, Stuart Clark stated, "Roger has done a fantastic job in leading our European business through a period of strong organic expansion. He also played a key role in our recent acquisition of Kler's Financial Data Service and in advancing our strategic relationship with Prism Valuation. The Asia-Pacific region is undergoing rapid change and these dynamics require that we effectively and efficiently allocate our resources to gain greater scale and accelerate our progress in this region. In addition to investing in organic growth initiatives, we will continue to pursue strategic acquisitions to expand our business in this region as reflected by our recent acquisition of a majority interest in Japan-based NTT DATA Financial. I am confident that by aligning our entire international operations under Roger's leadership, we will be well positioned to take advantage of the growth opportunities that are emerging in the Asia-Pacific region."

Cort J. Williams Biography

Cort Williams joined Interactive Data in 1988 as a senior strategic sales representative. He subsequently advanced into sales management roles of increasing responsibility. In 1996, Williams was responsible for creating what is now known as the Company's Business Development Group, which is focused on redistributor and software vendor relationships, and then helped to grow this distribution channel. After being promoted to vice president of strategy and business development in 2001, Williams became responsible for overall strategy, marketing and acquisitions and alliances for the business now known as Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data, and helped drive further expansion of the Company's network of redistributors. In 2005, he was promoted to senior vice president of Interactive Data's Major Accounts and Business Development Groups. In this role, he led the formation of the Company's Major Accounts Group that has helped strengthen and expand Interactive Data's business relationships with some of the world's largest financial institutions who utilize offerings from across Interactive Data's businesses. Prior to joining Interactive Data, he held sales and marketing management positions at the Data Resources Inc. unit of McGraw-Hill and a subsidiary of US Trust Company of New York. Williams earned his undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University with a dual major in Finance and International Business. A photograph of Williams is available upon request.

Roger Sargeant Biography

Roger Sargeant has been managing director for Interactive Data's European operations since September 2005. During this time, he led the business through strong organic growth, extending the Company's leadership position in the United Kingdom and selected continental European markets, particularly in the areas of fixed income and real-time data. Prior to that, Sargeant served as managing director for the Company's Pricing and Reference Data European business (previously known as FT Interactive Data (Europe)) for approximately three years. Sargeant joined the Company approximately 18 years ago, and has held several senior business development positions, including a period in Asia where he was responsible for all aspects of the business. From there, he became regional sales director in North America, a role in which he created a global account management program that was successfully implemented in 2002.

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