30
Jan
Firm58 Announces Record Results for 2012 & Explosive Growth in Trade Volume Processed for its Clients
Nearly One Billion Trades Processed by Firm58 Last Year
CHICAGO — January 30, 2013 — Firm58, Inc. (http://www.firm58.com), an independent financial management software company, announced today that during 2012 it processed an incredible 910.5 million trades for its clients. That volume more than doubles the previous year. In addition, Nick Fera, CEO of Firm58 announced record revenues again in 2012. “Once again our revenue run-rate continues to grow and exceed our expectations,” said Fera. “New business activity among broker dealers and exchanges continue to fuel company growth.”
During 2012 Firm58 continued to see a common theme among its existing and new subscribers of its services. “Cost reduction and better visibility throughout these organizations,” said Fera “are the leading drivers for clients.” With continued downward pressure on overall trade volume and heightened focus on profitability, Firm58’s clients are actively engaged in reducing their cost structure through outsourced services like Billing and Commission Share/Soft Dollar Solution, while enhancing their client relationships through greater access and transparency.
One initiative by Firm58 that embodies both of these concerns was the 3rd Quarter release of its new rapid-deployment CSA/Soft Dollar Solution. This new solution brought a professional interface to many brokerage’s loyalty programs while at the same time reducing the cost of implementing and managing these solutions. Firm58 successfully offered a ‘freemium’-pricing pricing model to make it easy for broker dealers to sign up and get their Soft Dollar programs active, while greatly enhancing the functionality offered to their clients. Many new brokerages continue to take advantage of this unique Firm58 offer.
Following on the successful roll out of the CSA/Soft Dollar Solution, in early 2013 Firm58 will release a new Compliance Reporting & Surveillance Solution targeted to assist the broker dealer community keep pace with regulatory guidance from the SEC and FINRA. This new solution will also be ready for rapid deployment and allow brokerages to enhance their own trade surveillance to avoid punitive actions resulting from a failure to supervise their trading activity. Firm58 will announce availability and pricing shortly.
Fera stated, “since 2005 we have worked to address the most complex middle and back office needs of the world’s most demanding broker dealers and exchanges. As those needs expand in response to both customer requirements and new regulation, Firm58 will continue to adapt and innovate as we have in the past to meet our clients’ needs and improve both their operational and financial performance.”
Added Fera, “we’re excited that the industry continues to look to Firm58 to address the growing and complex demands of capital markets companies. We look forward to staying on the leading edge of innovative client focused solutions..”
About Firm58, Inc.
Firm58 simplifies trade operations for capital markets firms. The company’s web-based financial management software manages the processes associated with fees, commissions and payouts to help increase revenue and operational efficiency, and reduce costs. The Software as a Service
(SaaS) platform automates middle- and back-office processes across asset classes to provide insight into daily profitability and protect revenue. Firm58 offers solutions for billing, profitability analysis, commission sharing arrangements/soft dollar management, and compliance. Clients include global market exchanges and execution venues, leading institutional brokerages, clearing and non-clearing broker-dealers, and proprietary trading firms. Founded in 2005, Firm58 is based in Chicago, and is backed by New World Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners. For more information, visit www.firm58.com.
Contacts:
Sam Mele, sam.mele@firm58.com
Firm58, Inc.
888-434-7658 x200
24
Jul
Firm58 Announces New Hosted CSA / Soft Dollar Solution For SMB Broker Dealers & Offers Free Services Under New ‘Fast Start Program’
CHICAGO — July 24, 2012 — Firm58, Inc. (http://www.firm58.com), an independent financial management software company, announced today that it is introducing a new commission sharing agreement (CSA) solution focused on the needs of small and medium sized broker dealers and is offering it free of charge to those broker dealers who have 10 or less clients under CSA/Soft Dollar management.
Through Chicago-based Firm58′s new CSA product, SMB broker dealers who have struggled with their decision to automate their CSA/Soft Dollar programs due to implementation complexity and exorbitant fees of current vendor solutions, now have a cost-effective, rapidly deployed alternative. Although CSA programs are intended to increase the size and loyalty of a broker’s business, most small broker dealers can’t afford the time or costs to implement an automated, on-line system. As a result they resort to managing their programs with spreadsheets; however, spreadsheet based solutions lack the security, auditability, version control, operational efficiency and data transparency buy side clients now demand, further driving the need for a highly functional, economical, turnkey solution.
“We’re excited to offer SMB broker dealers a new alternative to automate their CSA/Soft Dollar programs,” said Nick Fera, Firm58′s CEO. “We have taken the knowledge acquired in serving some of the largest financial institutions over the past three years to build a solution for the SMB market providing enterprise functionality yet implemented in a fraction of the time. With our new Fast Start Program, SMB Brokers will now be able to offer the very same capabilities as their much larger counterparts for free.”
Over the past several years CSA offerings have become a necessity for broker dealers to stave off customer attrition and attract new business. Firm58 is perfectly positioned to help the SMB market overcome those challenges by taking advantage of our new rapidly deployed, software-as-a-service offering.
Starting immediately, Broker Dealers with 10 (or less) CSA/Soft Dollar clients can sign up for free CSA services from Firm58. “We can’t think of a better way to help the Broker Dealer community reinvigorate its trading business during these difficult economic times. Long term this Fast Start Program is a win-win for both Firm58 and the Broker Dealer community,” said Fera. Access to Firm58’s CSA Fast Start Program ends December 31, 2012.
Firm58′s solutions have been adopted by financial institutions to manage fees, commissions and payouts, including billing, daily profitability reporting, and soft dollar program management. The company manages the billing function for many of the top bulge bracket firms as well as global exchanges, including the CBOE Stock Exchange (CBSX), the Boston Options Exchange, and ELX Futures. Prominent institutional brokerages, broker-dealers, and proprietary trading firms including Lightspeed, and Hamilton Executions also employ Firm58′s solutions. Founded in 2005, Firm58 is based in Chicago, and is backed by New World Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners.
For more information please visit our website at www.firm58.com or call us at 1-888-4FIRM58 and ask for Sales to schedule a demonstration.
About Firm58, Inc.
Firm58 simplifies trade operations for capital markets firms. The company’s web-based financial management software manages the processes associated with fees, commissions and payouts to help increase revenue and operational efficiency, and reduce costs. The Software as a Service
(SaaS) platform automates middle- and back-office processes across asset classes to provide insight into daily profitability and protect revenue. Firm58 offers solutions for billing, profitability analysis, commission sharing arrangements/soft dollar management, compensation, and accounting. Clients include global market exchanges and execution venues, leading institutional brokerages, clearing and non-clearing broker-dealers, and proprietary trading firms. Founded in 2005, Firm58 has offices in Chicago and New York, and is backed by New World Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners. For more information, visit www.firm58.com.
10
Jan
2011 Review
Today we are proud to recognize the effort and success of our employees in 2011. The attached release highlights some of the successes for 2011. We’re looking forward to an even more exciting and interesting 2012 as we get ready to release new products in the Compliance and Reporting space, as well as team up with new strategic partners for future growth and possibilities for our clients.
Best wishes to all for a prosperous 2012!
10
Jan
FIRM58 Achieves Record Financial Results in 2011; Positive Outlook and New Compliance Products for 2012
CHICAGO, January 10, 2012 — Firm58, the global market leader in integrated Commissions Management solutions including Billing, Profit Analysis, Commission Sharing/CSA Management and Compensation, announced record results for 2011 fueled by continued strong growth in client revenues. “With the highest run-rate performance in our Company’s history, we are well on our way towards continued growth in 2012 via recurring revenue from existing subscribers, new business acquisitions across the trading, brokerage and exchange industries, and new strategic alliances” said Nick Fera, CEO of Firm58.
During 2011, Firm58 added a significant number of new clients to its blue chip client list of leading brokerages and exchanges. “These new clients — like Merlin Securities and Macro Risk Advisors — are looking to improve their revenues and better analyze their own cost structures while providing significantly better customer service,” said Fera. “Particularly in this challenging market environment with increasing demands on all parties, our ‘road-tested’ SaaS –based solutions enabled our clients to improve profitability through more efficient automation and better internal analytics.”
In 2012, the Company plans to release an important new offering centered on trade Compliance. Already in use by several Firm58 clients, the Company will formalize and launch its new Compliance Reporting offering in the first quarter of 2012. This new fully-automated reporting solution will focus on increasingly mission-critical operational, regulatory and risk management functions, including Wash Sales, Short Sells, Exception Handling, Odd Lot Reviews, Large Orders and Duplicate Order Handling among others. In combination with its well-established suite of Commissions Management Solutions, Firm58 clients are able to outsource a majority of their middle and back office requirements through one dedicated, trusted and fully integrated provider.
Fera stated, “since 2005 we have worked to address the most complex middle and back office needs of the world’s most demanding broker dealers and exchanges. As those needs expand in response to both customer requirements and new regulation, Firm58 will continue to adapt and innovate as we have in the past to meet our clients’ needs and improve both their operational and financial performance.”
Given the current complexity of equity and options trading, the pressure on operating margins, and the demand for auditable compliance through transparency into trading activity and charges, the market increasingly looks to Firm58 to replace legacy internally-developed solutions that no longer scale or fit the needs of the current environment.
Fera added, “in addition to our outstanding growth via both existing and new clients, we anticipate the announcement of new strategic alliances in 2012 that will further accelerate our growth and enhance our ability to deliver cost-effective solutions to our wide range of clients.”
About Firm58, Inc.
Firm58 simplifies trade operations for capital markets firms. The company’s web-based financial management software manages the processes associated with fees, commissions and payouts to help increase revenue and operational efficiency, and reduce costs. The Software as a Service (SaaS) platform automates middle- and back-office processes across asset classes to provide insight into daily profitability and protect revenue. Firm58 offers solutions for billing, profitability analysis, commission sharing arrangements/soft dollar management, compensation, and accounting. Clients include global market exchanges and execution venues, leading institutional brokerages, clearing and non-clearing broker-dealers, and proprietary trading firms. Founded in 2005, Firm58 has offices in Chicago and New York, and is backed by New World Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners. For more information, visit www.firm58.com.
Contact:
Nick Fera
Firm58, Inc.
312-863-2390 x233
nick.fera@firm58.com
8
Dec
Firm58 Welcomes Merlin Securities
We were excited to announce yesterday that Merlin Securities had selected Firm58 to automate and manage its CSA/Soft Dollar program. They went live several months ago and it’s been a terrific relationship with the Merlin team. The announcement can be read here.
One of the clues to our work with Merlin was the white paper we posted on our website this past October. In that paper, Ron Suber, Senior Partner & Head of Global Sales & Marketing shares Merlin’s views on Business Process Maturity and the optimal time to invest in automation. From their quote in the press release you can see it was “time” for automation. “Integrating Firm58’s software into our own proprietary systems will help us manage that process [CSA/Soft Dollars] effectively while maintaining close communication with clients and regulators,” said Aaron Vermut, COO at Merlin Securities.
There are two themes here we have seen take hold in 2011. The first is broker dealer clients now expect the management of a formal CSA/Soft Dollar program beyond the myriad of spreadsheets that have dominated this practice. At a minimum, broker dealers are trying to protect their commission revenues, if not grow their business. With trading volumes still below the ’07 and ’08 levels, firms are doing whatever they can to meet client demands while securing more business and protecting their existing commission dollars.
The second theme centers on transparency and regulation. It’s not enough to struggle through paper files and fragmented sources of trade data to try and answer regulator’s questions. Quick response times and accuracy of data is critical to avoiding any compliance headaches (or nightmares).
In both situations, Firm58 has been helping its clients to protect and grow it revenue base, as well as serve as a critical component in compliance and regulatory reporting for several years now. A comprehensive approach to commissions management (Billing, Profit Analysis, CSA/Soft Dollar, Compensation, and Regulatory Reporting) is a must have for any brokerage.
7
Dec
Merlin Securities Selects Firm58 to Automate Clients’ CSA/Soft Dollar Processes
CHICAGO — December 7, 2011 — Firm58, Inc. (http://www.firm58.com), an independent financial management software company, announced today that Merlin Securities, a premier technology solutions provider and prime brokerage services firm, has selected to utilize and integrate its commission sharing agreement (CSA) technology.
Through Chicago-based Firm58′s CSA product, Merlin Securities has automated the processes of its soft dollar programs, allowing the firm to increase the size and scope of this business and enhancing clients’ visibility into trades, payments, credits and commissions.
“Our hedge fund clients are increasingly interested in capturing data about how trades are processed, billed and tracked,” said Aaron Vermut at New York-based Merlin Securities. “Integrating Firm58′s software into our own proprietary systems will help us manage that process effectively while maintaining close communication with clients and regulators.”
“We’re very excited to be chosen by Merlin Securities to automate their soft dollar programs,” said Sam Mele, Firm58′s co-founder and managing director. “In a recent Firm58 study, three quarters of those surveyed said that using Firm58′s technology is helping them better prepare for SEC and FINRA audits and internal compliance reviews, as well as improving their trade-related operations. We feel confident that Merlin and their clients will benefit from the efficiencies our solutions provide.”
Firm58′s solutions have been adopted by large financial institutions to manage fees, commissions and payouts, including billing, daily profitability reporting, and soft dollar program management. The company manages the billing function for many of the top bulge bracket firms as well as global exchanges, including the CBOE Stock Exchange (CBSX), the Boston Options Exchange, and ELX Futures. Prominent institutional brokerages, broker-dealers, and proprietary trading firms including Lightspeed, and Hamilton Executions also employ Firm58′s solutions. Founded in 2005, Firm58 has offices in Chicago and New York, and is backed by New World Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners.
About Merlin Securities
Merlin is a premier technology solutions provider and prime brokerage services firm offering integrated solutions to the alternative investment industry. The firm serves more than 500 single- and multi-primed managers, providing them with a broad suite of solutions including dynamic performance attribution analytics and reporting, seamless multi-custody services, capital development, 24-hour international trading, securities lending experts and institutional brokerage. With more than 100 employees, the firm has offices in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, San Diego and Toronto. Merlin utilizes the custodial and clearing operations of JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and National Bank of Canada. Merlin is a member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information, please visit www.merlinsecurities.com.
About Firm58, Inc.
Firm58 simplifies trade operations for capital markets firms. The company’s web-based financial management software manages the processes associated with fees, commissions and payouts to help increase revenue and operational efficiency, and reduce costs. The Software as a Service
(SaaS) platform automates middle- and back-office processes across asset classes to provide insight into daily profitability and protect revenue. Firm58 offers solutions for billing, profitability analysis, commission sharing arrangements/soft dollar management, compensation, and accounting. Clients include global market exchanges and execution venues, leading institutional brokerages, clearing and non-clearing broker-dealers, and proprietary trading firms. Founded in 2005, Firm58 has offices in Chicago and New York, and is backed by New World Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners. For more information, visit www.firm58.com.
6
Jun
Automated Post-Trade Reporting is No Longer a Nice-to-Have
According to the May issue of Wall Street & Technology magazine, 2011 is the Year of Compliance and the Cloud. We’ve all heard the hype around cloud computing, and not a day goes by where you don’t hear about looming regulation and the impact it will have on the capital markets industry.
What is missing from the headlines is that client reporting is now a top priority among financial firms, with technology budget behind it. According to a recent survey by Aite Group, client reporting ranked at the top of the list in terms of capital markets firms’ IT priorities this year.
For those of us at Firm58 who spend our days working with institutional brokerages, bulge bracket firms, stock exchanges and execution venues, we are in the unique position to see how transformative client reporting can be to the business of trading.
Client reporting is no longer a simple report showing client trades or a client statement showing balances and positions that is distributed once a month via paper or – at best – a static report emailed monthly.
Today, client reporting has to be real-time because changes to rates need to happen quickly, adjustments about where to direct order flow must be timely, and everyone charged with the responsibility of revenue needs to see cost drivers on a daily basis. Whether it’s a high-level trend report or detailed trade data, this detailed information must be streamed in real-time to clients.
Firm58 clients use reporting to show more than just what they traded and when, but who they traded with and the total cost of the trade. Powerful search capabilities enable our clients to find data faster. Information aggregated in multiple ways by group, by asset, by contra party, by time, etc, provides unique perspectives and deeper insight. Trending analysis is then available to easily identify patterns and provide a high-level data perspective and easy access to details.
The competitive advantage our customers realize by way of client reporting is truly transformative. These firms have automated their access to critical information including the identification of their the top customers by revenue, volume, and cost.
Much has been written about the urgency of automating middle and back office processes, but we are now seeing that it’s no longer optional if a firm is serious about competing in today’s global economy. In a recent Firm58 survey of capital markets firms, 91% said their buy-side clients demand more transparency into the post-trade process than they did three years ago.
With increased competition driven by a poor economic environment, firms can no longer sit on the sidelines and rely on spreadsheets and slow manual processes. To keep existing clients and fight for new business, they have to do more. Understanding venue/exchanges costs changing daily and weekly by way of automated reporting is a good place to start.
22
Mar
Macro Risk Advisors Selects Firm58 for Post-Trade Profitability Analysis
Web access to daily trade details enables streamlined operations, cost reductions and revenue growth
CHICAGO — March 22, 2011 — Firm58, Inc. (http://www.firm58.com), a leading financial management software company, announced today its appointment by Macro Risk Advisors (MRA), a leading equity derivatives strategy and execution broker dealer, to provide post-trade technology solutions.
In support of the firm’s steady growth, New York-based MRA is replacing its existing spreadsheet-driven processes with Firm58′s Software as a Service (SaaS) offering. The initial implementation will provide daily profitability reporting, accessible from a central web-based dashboard, with no need for additional MRA headcount.
“Streamlining our post-trade processing was a strategic decision that will enable us to understand our biggest cost drivers and accelerate customer acquisition efforts,” said Dean Curnutt, CEO of MRA. “In Firm58, we found a partner that can meet our current and future needs, allowing us to help our clients be more profitable in an unpredictable market environment.”
Firm58 provides an online, centralized trade blotter that consolidates trade-level revenue and expense details across assets, clients, and business units. The flexibility of the software empowers firms to adopt and implement new pricing strategies in order to take on new types of clients and increase order flow while maintaining control over brokerage, clearing and execution costs. Additional Firm58 solutions address other revenue-driving programs, including commission sharing arrangements (CSA) and soft dollars.
“The more we learned about Firm58, the more we realized the firm’s technology supports many of our most important areas of focus,” said John Luttenberger, head of operations at MRA. “Working with Firm58, we can be more nimble and responsive to changing market conditions and verify we are receiving accurate rebates. The bonus of having all of this functionality available in one solution made this an easy decision.”
“We’re thrilled to be working with Macro Risk Advisors to automate their post-trade processing,” said Nick Fera, Firm58′s chief executive officer. “MRA not only recognizes the importance of driving topline revenue, but also streamlining many of the manual middle-office functions that are garnering increased government attention. We look forward to helping the firm maintain and grow its competitive market position.”
About Macro Risk Advisors
Macro Risk Advisors is an equity derivatives strategy and execution firm headquartered in New York and specializing in translating proprietary market intelligence into specific trading ideas for its clients. Using an extensive network of contacts, MRA is able to access deep liquidity pools that enable the most efficient execution possible. MRA’s strategy notes are read by more than 1,300 unique institutional firms. The company is a FINRA-registered broker-dealer. For more information, visit www.macroriskadvisors.com or MRAD on Bloomberg.
About Firm58, Inc.
Firm58 simplifies trade operations for capital markets firms. The company’s web-based financial management software manages the processes associated with fees, commissions and payouts to help increase revenue and operational efficiency, and reduce costs. The Software as a Service (SaaS) platform automates middle- and back-office processes across asset classes to provide insight into daily profitability and protect revenue. Firm58 offers solutions for billing, profitability analysis, commission sharing arrangements/soft dollar management, compensation, and accounting. Clients include global market exchanges and execution venues, leading institutional brokerages, clearing and non-clearing broker-dealers, and proprietary trading firms. Founded in 2005, Firm58 has offices in Chicago and New York, and is backed by New World Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners. For more information, visit www.firm58.com.
15
Mar
Driving Growth with CSA Programs: The Buy-Side is Calling
Over the past several years, with the market meltdown and the ‘flash crash” last May, overall commission dollars have continued to fall in capital markets. In 2010, commission dollars were down over 20%. There are projections of another ~20% drop in commissions for 2011 as well.
In the years leading up to the meltdown, brokerages had been reducing their execution costs to retain and/or grow revenues. A large shift to electronic trading, algos, and improved smart order routing shaved points off commissions rates and lowered the costs of execution.
However, in the past two years, execution isn’t the only issue. The buy-side is actively looking for “alpha-generating” ideas through better research. It’s been reported that more than 75% of buy-side firms use some form of commission sharing arrangement (CSA) to gain access to the research they need to lure retail customers back and improve the overall picture in capital markets. The other 25% is increasingly moving toward the use of CSAs as well.
Bulge bracket firms continue to invest in research and technology as full-service brokers, because they can afford to do so. The rest of the execution-only brokers will find it increasingly difficult to compete for commission dollars without research and CSAs to entice the “alpha seeking” crowd.
In the past two years, Firm58 has helped some of the leading brokerages create and manage CSA programs through our hosted technology solution. Our Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription model lends itself to institutional brokerages of all sizes because infrastructure and hardware costs are eliminated.
Firm58 is committed to continuing our focus on CSA program management. Recently, we added Mike Plunkett to our Board of Directors. Mike was President of Instinet, a company that had one of the most successful and longest-running CSA programs, ever. Mike’s insight into the market is already translating into actionable solutions for our clients and our company.
How well prepared are you to handle this need for more and better research? Learn more about our CSA/soft dollar offering.
