Financial Market Data Web Services – Xignite Blog

Every two years, SIIA/FISD hosts the premier gathering of Market Data Executives & Professionals. Alternating between Europe and the US, this years World Financial Information Conference will be hosted in beautiful San Francisco, October 9 through 12th.

We are happy to announce the 2011 WFIC Pre-Conference Reception, sponsored by Xignite. Hosted at one of San Franciscos most prestigious Wine Clubs, Press Club SF, this event will feature wines from award winning vineyards in Napa, Sonoma, Santa Cruz and Russian River areas.

This complimentary event is open to all FISD Members, WFIC Attendees and a select Xignite Partners, Customers and Friends. Click THIS LINK to view the VIP invite for this event, or click the image below to request participation.

Additionally, if you have yet to register for the 2011 WFIC Conference, now is a great time to do so. Visit THIS PAGE and enter promo code “PRMWFSP” for a special $250 Xignite discount.

The last few years have been undeniably tough for the once brash hedge fund industry. Recent headlines do not suggest any improvement with August being the worst month for hedge funds since October 2008, and marquee firms like Paulson & Company firm down 34% year-to-date.  Prior to the crisis of 2008, the industry appeared to be on a steady upward trajectory, evolving from a small, scrappy upstart, that catered to high net worth investors, to a more formalized $2 trillion industry, that serviced the largest pension funds in the world. Since the crisis, however, the industry seems to have lost its way. What exactly happened and how can what we term the “Hedge Fund Cloud” return the industry to its former glory?

Institutionalize or Die

Pre-crisis, managers believed that the measure of success was not only returns but assets under management. In their race to acquire new assets, managers were motivated to “institutionalize” their infrastructure so that they could go after the really big allocations from large pension funds and endowments. For many firms this institutionalization meant leaving the relative simplicity of their single prime relationship to the much more complex world of building out their own multi-prime infrastructure. Almost overnight managers found themselves running complex and unwieldy businesses. Seemingly simple operations like adding a strategy, that required a new asset-class, or producing a new report, became long and involved IT projects.  Any thought of outsourcing any of this burden was dismissed because of perceived privacy and control concerns.

Prisoners of their own Hedge fund Infrastructure

The actual crisis further exposed the inflexibility of hedge funds’ infrastructures. Managers struggled to view their true exposure across asset classes and multi-prime relationships. Just when managers most needed their former agility they discovered that they had become prisoners of their own expensive infrastructures.

Fast forward to today. We are still experiencing the after effects of the crisis. A strong regulatory backlash response has been unavoidable. There is still tremendous uncertainly about the true impact of these new regulations, but what is certain, is that the business of running a hedge fund will become even more complex and costly.

How can the industry remove itself from this funk and prepare itself for the next crisis? The answer is that the industry needs to return to basics by once again making alpha generation its sole focus. The industry needs to regain its former investment agility. In short, managers need to get out of the running-a-hedge-fund business and get back to the investment business.

The Hedge Fund Cloud to the Rescue

Fortunately, the Hedge Fund Cloud offers managers the opportunity to get back to basics.  The Hedge Fund Cloud allows Read more