Investment Management Newsflashes: Advent Wins 53 Clients in 2005, and more

Advent Reveals '05 Customer Win Numbers

Advent Software revealed that during 2005 the company added 53 alternative asset management firms to its portfolio of clients. Advent powers more than 450 hedge fund managers, fund administrators and prime brokers.

Of the new client firms, 15 implemented Geneva and 38 signed on for Axys or Advent Portfolio Exchange. Advent also added 17 hedge funds to the Moxy client community.

"What is really satisfying for us is the acknowledgement by the market that our development focus on instrument coverage, integration and core accounting is in alignment with the industry's most critical needs," said Robert O'Boyle, vice president of product marketing for global accounts, in a release. "It's amazing to see how many institutional asset managers have recently formed hedge fund groups and how well this market understands the importance of a system that enables their business growth by meeting the demands of both the front and back offices."

Overall, 15 of the largest global hedge funds, eight of the top 10 global prime brokers, and eight of the top 10 global fund administrators use Advent solutions.

The European Investment Bank Outsources IT Security Management to Cybertrust

Ubizen, a majority-owned subsidiary of information security specialist Cybertrust, signed the European Investment Bank (EIB) to its managed security services. As part of the contract, Cybertrust will provide onsite security engineering consultancy, maintenance and support, and monitoring and management services for all of EIB's IT security devices.

The EIB recently embarked on a rationalization of all of its security operations and chose to consolidate with one security partner. The EIB had originally worked with Cybertrust in 2004 when the company partnered with Entreprise des Postes et Telecommunications to implement and manage the security aspects of EIB's external network.

Institutional Shareholder Services Introduces New Proxy Voting Policy

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a provider of corporate governance and proxy voting services, introduced a new proxy voting policy designed specifically for small and mid-size public pension funds and their investment managers. The new policy guidelines reflect the viewpoints of the public fund community on major corporate governance issues from director elections to executive compensation.

The new Public Fund Policy allows small and mid-size funds and their managers to vote proxies in a manner consistent with the guidelines typically followed by larger state funds that have the deep resources to design and deploy their own custom voting policies. In developing the new policy, ISS incorporated input from more than 40 public plan sponsors that participated in two different ISS policy surveys. ISS also sought additional guidance on certain issues from several recognized public funds known for their leadership in corporate governance.

"ISS' policy continuum continues to expand to meet the diverse needs of many types of institutional investors," said Robert Kellogg, ISS research director, in a release. "Our new public fund policy was developed in the same thoughtful and collaborative way that ISS designed its Taft Hartley, Socially Responsible Investing and Benchmark policies—with the shareholders' interests in mind."

Campbell University and The Fiduciary Education Center Make Trust Certification More Accessible

Campbell University and The Fiduciary Education Center have partnered with trust and investment management accounting software vendor AccuTech Systems Corp. to create a new educational service to the trust industry, AccuTech University. Campbell University will give professionals the ability to earn Accredited Trust Financial Advisor (ATFA) and Accredited Trust Operation Professional (ATOP) designations, maintain Certified Trust Financial Advisor (CTFA) and Certified Securities Operations Professional (CSOP) designations and expand trust knowledge. The courses, running one to three days in length, are being offered in various cities around the country.

All courses are accredited through Campbell University, the only university in the U.S. that offers Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and MBA degree programs in trust management. "With AccuTech University, not only do financial professionals get the backing of leading institutions in their respective spaces of the trust industry, they also get the training in a format that is more conducive to their schedules and at a price they and their companies will appreciate," said Becky Kelly, co-partner, The Fiduciary Education Center, Inc., in a release.

ATFA and ATOP classes will be taught by The Fiduciary Education Center, with assistance from AccuTech Systems' staff. Additionally, AccuTech University will offer other courses focusing on various aspects of trust management taught by specialists in their respective disciplines, such as marketing and customer service.