In line with the firm's semi-annual release schedule, version 4.9 features important new developments designed to meet growing challenges in the investment management industry and further automate workflow processes throughout the back-, middle- and front-office.

"As the industry begins to recover from the financial crisis, regulatory demands are placing greater pressure on global investment management firms to implement an operational infrastructure that allows for greater transparency and automation," comments Torben Munch, COO of SimCorp. "At SimCorp, we invest heavily in research and development. Version 4.9 represents more than 100,000 man-hours of development and six months of rigorous research. We are constantly looking for ways in which we can help SimCorp Dimension users meet the many challenges they'll be facing in 2011 and onwards."

With a view towards helping firms mitigate risk, reduce cost, and prepare for growth, SimCorp Dimension version 4.9 introduces a number of important developments across front-, middle-, and back-office, including:

* Compliance Checks: Investment managers can now run compliance checks on figures imported from outside SimCorp Dimension and incorporating these into compliance rules. Compliance checks may also be run on broker restrictions.
* Order Creation: The newly improved order creation process allows for advanced simulation possibilities using formulas or custom investment strategies.
* Performance Calculation / VaR: The new performance calculation module and analytical value at risk (VaR) model improves accuracy and reduces calculation time.
* Collateral Management: The enhanced collateral management feature enables greater automation and enables firms to handle large numbers of collateral agreements.
* Security Forecasting: A new enhancement allows forecasting of security holdings and a view of upcoming corporate events. Users can now specify when they want to view available positions and match their matcr match their positions against collateral.
* Period Closure: A new period closure functionality ensures that holding data from a closed period is held static.

In addition to the sophisticated new developments to SimCorp Dimension, the firm now also offers a number of value-add services to guide users through running and maintaining SimCorp Dimension. The SimCorp release and deployment management service allows SimCorp Dimension clients to minimise risk and manage the costs associated with regular product upgrades. Following a standardized approach with clearly defined responsibilities, clients can enjoy a fully controlled end-to-end upgrade process under maximum budget control.

SimCorp Capacity Management is a new service offering for clients, driven by the increasing focus on data volumes and system performance. The Capacity Management service is designed to provide specific actionable analysis related to data distribution and system performance and the service includes an option for implementing proposed corrective actions.

Torben Munch says, "We have been working very closely with a number of major financial institutions on developing SimCorp Services. We believe that our clients are our partners and these helpful services are designed to better position our clients for future growth."