When US fintech giant Confluence acquired UK-listed StatPro last year, it sent ripples through the market. The UK firm had scored a coup with its own acquisition of UBS’ risk and analytics platform Delta and now all three entities are under the same roof it allows for seamless front, middle and back office activities to be handled by Confluence.
Todd Moyer (pictured), chief operating officer of Confluence, told Fundeye: “We're dealing with anyone from front office, investment decisions all the way through to back office reporting so along that spectrum, Confluence now offers a one stop shop to the market.”
Given the tsunami of regulation facing asset managers, Confluence’s global footprint shouldn’t be underplayed. The firm has 12 office around the world, in every major financial sector and others which are tipped to become so, such as Vietnam.
“When you think about the requirements that the global regulators are putting on asset managers and investment managers, we sit squarely in the middle of all that,” said Mr Moyer.
The phrase ‘data is king’ might be overplayed but in Confluence’s case it is certainly the firm’s currency. It handles liquidity risks, along with the back office reporting which is in the firm’s original DNA. The firm is a one-stop-shop from raw data and calculation engines all the way through to actually filing and reporting with regulators.
The StatPro deal has now had time to bed in and although the UK firm’s CEO Justin Wheatley has decided to pursue other interests away from the business, the software as a service (SaaS) firm he built seems to be in good hands.
Mr Moyer explains one of the draws to the current model is its scalability, possible through Confluence’s use of the cloud. This allows for open architecture when it comes to APIs which has the ability to access data easier and in a more efficient fashion.
Another major selling points for Confluence apart from its global offering is that its platform allows for quick and efficient onboarding of new clients. The firm already counts the majority of the world’s largest asset managers as its clients but the ability for it to adapt to new regulations or ways of doing business is another draw to the Confluence brand.
“There is an implementation and adjustment period whenever you introduce a new technology. That process is a lot smoother using cloud native technology, but even then it's your ongoing interaction and efficiency with clients that gets you by: really developing everything with an eye towards openness. That's where I'd say Confluence differentiates ourselves - we're always thinking about ‘how do we make our platform open to the asset management community?’”. said Mr Moyer.
The firm remains on the acquisition trail as it looks to scale up although Confluence also grows organically so will only choose a target to bolt-on if it does something that compliments the firm’s existing offering.
