NEWS

AmazonFPM 27 July 2010

AmazonFPM is a replacement for WebFPM. At present WebFPM is hosted on your local server alongside FPM. AmazonFPM will host the same service on a server maintained by Amazon EC2 . You may have come across references to Cloud Computing in the news. This is the beginning of it ! In due course you may wish to host FPM itself on the Amazon (see news release 31March2010 below). In this case we propose moving just WebFPM. The principal advantages of hosting WebFPM on Amazon is that the system is guaranteed to be up and running non-stop 365/365 - unattended. Another important advantage is security; you would no longer expose the IP address of your local server (as you have to do by hosting WebFPM on your local server). From the view point of operation, there is nothing new for the end user. The publication of the reports will proceed through the same FPM function which will now automatically export the reports to the Amazon server via FTP.

Custodian Reconciliation 23 July 2010

We are edging closer to workerless office. Hope we shall save a few more hours for you with the new reconciliation function which compares FPM against custodian automatically. The custodian must of course provide a computer file containing positions held by them to enable the function. This file should contain a few data items (such as the client number, ISN, holding, price, cost, liquid cash and outstanding amounts). A simple coma delimited file is sufficient. The custodian file is imported into FPM and saved for future reference. A report is then created where in-house and custodian positions are displayed side by side highlighting differences. A mouse click will let you drill down to identify the cause of the differences.

Tree Menu 16 July 2010

With the new FPM release (8.20), you now have an option between a pull down and a tree menu.

SWIFT Trade Settlement Interface 12 July 2010

FPM SWIFT Trade Settlement Interface (FPM Viewfinder Module) can now send out messages for settlement of bond trades as well as equities.

New FPM user 30 June 2010

We are pleased to announce our second FPM user in the Caribbean. The new FPM user is offering a mixture of stock broking and private banking services to its international clientele who are able to see their statements on the Internet via WebFPM (FPM's Internet portal).

cloudFPM and WebFPM on Amazon 31 March 2010

Do we have news for you!

FPM can now be hosted on Amazon. It is not quite another button next to books and movies yet, but it is pretty close. You can now access cloudFPM & WebFPM wherever you are, whenever you want. No need to keep a server at the office any longer.

To put it simplistically, it looks like we have finally come full circle from PCs back to mainframes. The service provided by Amazon (and many other competing service providers - under the marketing name "cloud computing") looks practical and economical. An interesting aspect of the new technology is its downward compatibility. There is no need to develop new software. You can run all your legacy applications on the "cloud"

The service provided by Amazon, named Amazon EC2, is described as a virtual computing environment where any operating system / software can be hosted. A user friendly interface is provided which can be used by a computer literate person to set up an image of their usual server configuration (operating system, application software and data). You pay only for the resources that you actually consume, like instance-hours or data transfer.

In our tests, we have installed Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Office and the FPM application running on Foxpro 9. The performance of the system was very good indeed. Login is fast. The system is up 24/24. The speed of execution of the applications were comparable / better than LAN. The test platform is live now. Let us know if you want to try it out.

PS. A note of explanation might be helpful at this stage about the new FPM product names mentioned in the headline. cloudFPM comprises the usual front and back office functions. webFPM is the usual FPM portal for delivering reports to your clients.

FPM Visualiser Module 14 January 2010

The new module launched today converts data into charts at the click of a button. Please check the following examples:    Performance Report.xls    Valuation Report.xls

Excel Reports Run Much Faster 29 October 2009

With the new FPM release Excel reports run about ten times faster than before.

New Drill Down Capability 29 October 2009

Excel reports now have a button which automatically filters out detail rows and columns. For example, supposing that you have a valuation report grouped by sector and country. On clicking this button the holding rows will be hidden from view, exposing just the totals by sector, country. That is, the detail report is transformed into a summary report. The button is presented on any user defined report automatically.

Order Wizard Wisdom 19 October 2009

Did you know that you can use the Order Wizard for generating automatic buy (sell) orders for new subscriptions (redemptions)? Here is how: Post the subscription (redemption) to cash journal as usual and run Limit End of Day. Holdings will now be under-invested (over-invested for redemption). Now run the Wizard (for the initiated: BuyIdea > Import Target % File > Top Up option). The Trade File is now prepared automatically. One more click will send the trade file to the front or back office as required.

Performance Attribution Module Enhancement 19 October 2009

We announce three enhancements for the price of one. First, the maximum number of segment classes (for performance attribution analysis) has been expanded from four to hundred. Second, the contribution of security performance to segment performance and the contribution of segment to portfolio performance can now be shown in a single report. That is, the report provides a "bottom up" answer to the question; What is the security performance and what is its contribution to segment and portfolio performance? Last but not least, the new release permits you to separate currency and price performance. We should stress that the enhancement is implemented without adding any new input load and can work retroactively.

Compliance + New Rules 13 October 2009

Our civilisation is enrichened with new rules every day. We do our best to keep up. This month we have contributed two new rules. First, you can now add to your client mandates a spread of countries (or any other security property for that matter, but country sounds like a more tangible scenario). An example, should clarify the gobbledygook. For example, you can now begin promising that you shall invest in at least 10 countries out of the 195 available. Second, we have introduced a "dynamic" rule. This is a bit more difficult to explain. Let's try an example again. You say that "the sum of all holdings which are greater than x% will not be larger than y%" in a given portfolio" (or group of portfolios). The "dynamic" bit is related to the calculation of x% and y% on the fly during rule checking. That's all for October rules. We'll be back with more rules in November.

Bloomberg Live Goes Live 13 October 2009

We would like to announce the availability of a new module for downloading data online from the Bloomberg Terminal. The new module is named FPM-BB Live.

Background reading; up till now, FPM had an interface to Bloomberg Data Licence. Some of you may well ask what is BB Data License ? Bloomberg says: "The Data License Per Security Product allows a customer to access financial information on a per security basis by customizing their own requests, or submitting an order, in which Bloomberg processes and replies back with the information requested within one minute." So, we suppose it works out like this; you can use BB Live for on-line updates and BB Data Licence for end of day and historic updates. However, BB Live may be sufficient for end of day valuations also. For you to choose.

SQL Server, Oracle, etc 16 April 2009

The new version of FPM released today allows the user to choose their favourite database. Has someone mentioned Microsoft SQL Server ? Or, are you an Oracle fan? No problem. We don't want anyone to feel discriminated against. How did we achieve such heights of flexibility? You may well ask. Simple really. We have retained the front end Foxpro client system in its entirety (why throw the baby out with the bath water). Facing you on the screen is the tried and trusted FPM application which communicates with the server at the back end through a connectivity layer.

Charity starts at Microsoft - MSN Quotes 1 December 2008

We announce the availability of the new FPM - MSN Quote Module. The module updates FPM Historical Price, Exchange, Index Files on-line from the MSN Quotes service provided by Microsoft (free of charge!). In keeping with the Microsoft tradition, we might just donate the licence fee for this new FPM module for charitable acts.

FPM user in the Caribbean 1 December 2008

We are pleased to announce a new FPM user in the Caribbean. FPM has just gone live on the Turks and Caicos Island after an enjoyable implementation program of two months. The new FPM user is offering a mixture of stock broking and private banking services to its international clientele who are able to see their statements on the Internet via WebFPM (FPM's Internet portal which provides access to client reports published automatically from our very own FPM Scheduler Module).

Deal Wizard goes live 31 July 2008

Deal Wizard rebalances portfolios for you. All you need to input is security code, price, % allocation and the Wizard takes care of the rest (ie calculates number of shares to buy/sell, leaving aside required liquidity, passes the trades through the Compliance + function and sends them as Open Orders to the Order Management Module). The Wizard has gone live at two user sites who are both expanding their client base fast and the productivity gain achieved was most welcome (we believe!).

Compliance + Module enhancement 31 July 2008

FPM Compliance + Module has been enhanced to work on a relational database architecture. Compliance+ performs on-line validation of trades prior to input. Rules are now defined in a relational database and assigned to individual portfolios or groups of portfolios (eg for a family of portfolios) simply by check boxing against rules applicable in each case. Rule books may comprise a mixture of house rules or UCITS III regulations. Breaches / overrides are recorded automatically in audit files.

Royal Bank of Canada Trade Settlement Global Custody Interface (RBC Dexia) 30 June 2008

The custodian interface for the RBC Dexia (Viewfinder) has gone live on this day. The module allows the entry of trades directly from FPM into the custody registration system at RBC. The module is currently in live use at one user site.

Bloomberg Data Licence installed on a new user site 31 May 2008

Bloomberg Data Licence interface module has gone live at a second user site. The module allows downloading selected market data (including corporate actions) into FPM directly (transparently) from the Bloomberg FTP service at a pre-set time each day. Once programmed (database driven), the download requires no further user maintenance / operation actions.

P&L on Historic and Book Basis 30 April 2008

FPM General Ledger Module has been enhanced to enable monthly revaluations (previously revaluations could only be carried out annually). The new functionality has gone live at one user site today.

General Ledger Module - an all purpose multi-currency accounting package 31 March 2008

FPM GL Module has been an all purpose accounting package since its inception nearly fifteen years ago but perhaps this has been a well kept secret ! FPM GL Module can perform usual multi-currency accounting functions for company accounts (alongside its principal task for investment accounting). This has been used widely by investment trust users of FPM but relatively unknown to other users (?) With new enhancements released today for importing expense / income journals, cash transactions and exchange rates, the input productivity of the module has taken a leap forward.

Computer Design Succursale de Geneve 1 March 2008

Computer Design has opened a Branch Office in Geneva. Support and development staff working from our office located in the old town of Carouge will provide support and development services for FPM users in Switzerland and Europe. In the Swiss market we foresee particular interest for FPM core functions specially developed for private client wealth management, family office, alternative investment and hedge fund investment management front/back office operations

Performance Attribution Module supports alternative currency 28 February 2008

The latest release of the Performance Attribution Module supports an "alternative currency". eg if you have been reporting in GBP terms until now, you can now report in USD terms as well. Comes in handy for fund managers speaking to clients / prospects the other side of the Atlantic.

Performance Attribution Module supports Composites 31 January 2008

The latest release of the Performance Attribution Module supports composites in accordance with GIPS rules. Composites can be defined at will by the user from any combination of portfolios under management. Joiners and leavers are handled automatically.

Statpro Interface Module 31 January 2008

FPM Statpro Interface Module has lost its single existing user due to take-over of the victim. Homeless Statpro Module is now looking for a new user. Poor lamb.

FPM runs on Microsoft SQL 31 December 2007

FPM SQL Server Beta is released on this day. If you are carried away with Microsoft SQL, here is your chance. Any volunteers please step forward ! FPM SQL Server enjoys the same user interface and functionality, except that the underlying database is Microsoft SLQ Server instead of Microsoft Foxpro.