Advent Software (NASDAQ:ADVS), a leading provider of software and services for the global investment management industry, today announced that it has entered into agreements with Morningstar, Inc. and Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) to deliver investment classification information to its Advent Outsourcing Services(SM) clients for enhanced reporting.
Advent Outsourcing Services(SM) offers Advent's award-winning suite of products in a fully outsourced environment.
Morningstar is a leading provider of independent investment research that provides data on more than 325,000 investment offerings, along with real-time global market data on more than 4 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. GICS provides a global standard for categorizing companies into industry sectors, enabling seamless comparisons across indices by industry, by region, and globally. Through the agreements, Advent Outsourcing Services(SM) clients now have access to mutual fund style and category classification information from Morningstar and GICS as part of their standard service.
In addition, Advent now offers new flexible position and performance reporting options designed to both leverage this data and give the user control over multiple reporting elements tailoring views into allocation and exposure. While these industry-recognized standards are offered to outsourcing clients, additional options are available to firms with unique classification requirements.
"Advent's adoption of both GICS and Morningstar classification standards for outsourcing customers is an important addition to our management and client reporting capabilities," said Charlie Atwill, managing member of Atwill Financial Consulting Group, LLC. "It provides us with a great deal of flexibility, saves us time -- and most importantly -- gives us, and our clients, a more accurate picture of the composition of the portfolios we manage. This is a system we can live and grow with for the long haul."
"Our relationships with Morningstar and GICS help us deliver industry-leading best practices to Advent's 400-plus outsourcing clients and adds further value to our outsourced offering," said Michael Lobosco, Director of Advent Outsourcing Services(SM). "These arrangements demonstrate our commitment to investing in Advent Outsourcing Services(SM) and to the support of our clients' success through best-of-breed market intelligence and access to timely, accurate and robust data."