TUCS, which is a cooperative effort between Wilshire Associates and custodial organizations, is the most widely accepted universe comparison in the United States for the performance of institutional assets. Universe comparisons represent peer group analysis of a portfolio or a plan, which can be customized by size, style, plan type and other factors.

Through this enhancement, the bank's clients will gain immediate online access to their investment data and the functionality to create customized universes, detailed analysis and monitoring of their portfolios' performance relative to other institutions. In addition, the next phase of the initiative will include the development of international universes with an initial focus on the UK pension market and other proprietary universes.

This new capability represents the first in a series of product development priorities that will be introduced to clients as a result of the strategic alliance between the bank and Wilshire Associates. As part of the strategic alliance, the bank and Wilshire Analytics are integrating their comprehensive selection of risk services, including performance measurement, analytics, fixed income and equity attribution, universe comparisons, compliance, risk budgeting, and advanced risk measures.

"Through testing and research with clients, we know that online access to TUCS meets the growing need for immediate, self-directed access to this data and analysis," said Debra A. Baker, Managing Director and head of Global Risk Services at The Bank of New York. "This represents a significant step forward and demonstrates how our alliance with Wilshire provides us with the ability to anticipate and meet the emerging risk management needs of institutional investors in a timely way."

According to Baker, the bank tested the online TUCS service with ten clients during the past three months and expects to complete its roll out to all eligible clients by the end of the year. She added that as part of its continuing efforts to expand its risk services product set, the bank plans to introduce a new attribution analysis service by the end of the year.

Susan Bowers, Associate Director of Investments, Arkansas Public Employee Retirement System, and one of the Bank's performance and analytics clients, said, "It is great to have all the analytical tools available to me through a single portal and it is very user friendly."