Accenture Joins with Industry Leaders to Create a New Company to Provide Straight-Through Processing to Asset Managers Over the Internet
Advent Software, Compaq, Microsoft, and The Bank of New York Team With Accenture to Form Encompys
NEW YORK, April 24, 2001 – Accenture today announced the creation of an independent company to develop an Internet-based straight-through-processing (STP) solution for the global asset management community.
Encompys Inc. combines the technology, knowledge capital and financial resources of leading technology and financial services organizations to provide asset managers with the first fully integrated end-to-end STP outsourcing solution, all through a dedicated Internet portal.
By providing a single point of entry for all pre-trade, trade and post-trade activities, Encompys will enable asset managers to focus on their core competencies of investment management and client relationships while helping to reduce the time, cost and risk associated with securities trading and settlement. Encompys will also link customer relationship management and enterprise resource management capabilities with portfolio management and compliance solutions.
With next-day trade settlement (often referred to as T+1) imminent in the United States and elsewhere, and likely as the de facto standard globally, Encompys will offer asset managers an efficient, affordable and lower-risk alternative to building their own T+1-compliant systems or integrating separate components internally.
Encompys’ first release will be the customer relationship management (CRM) capability for PIMCO, one of the world’s largest fund managers and the new company’s first client. Encompys will be providing only a CRM capability for PIMCO, not PIMCO’s STP solution.
George R. Trumbull, the former chief executive of Australian financial services giant AMP Limited, has been named chairman and chief executive officer of Encompys; James P. Honohan, the Accenture partner responsible for launching Encompys, will act as president.
“Encompys is a unique venture that brings together the diverse but key ingredients necessary to deliver on the potential of straight-through processing,” said Honohan. “We have selected our partners in Encompys based on a common vision as to how we could achieve a truly global, Internet-driven STP solution. We believe that the teaming of these formidable industry forces, together with their respective client bases, will facilitate Encompys’ success—a success from which the financial industry worldwide will benefit greatly.”
Accenture will serve as consulting services provider to Encompys, focusing on business and systems integration and construction of the customer relationship management functionality; Advent will furnish the core applications; Compaq will provide ProLiant servers and related hardware; Microsoft will supply the system software and Internet portal applications; and The Bank of New York will deliver middle- and back-office trade execution, securities servicing support and master record-keeping services. The combined total investment of the partners at launch, exclusive of service provider agreements, is approximately $50 million. No further financial details have been announced.
Encompys evolved out of the Accenture WEBeSTP program conceived and developed at the Accenture STP Center of Excellence and Accenture’s Business Launch Centre in New York. The STP Center of Excellence is Accenture’s central source of STP knowledge capital and covers all industry segments, including primary and secondary broker/dealers, asset management companies, custodian banks, correspondent clearing firms, exchanges, central securities depositories, and other shared utilities.
Straight-Through Processing (STP)
STP solutions are needed to help financial markets firms meet the move to one-day trade settlement (T+1), as well as to meet the global demand that has resulted from the explosive growth of online trading. Presently, the entire trade lifecycle, from initiation to settlement, is a complex labyrinth of manual processes, taking several days. STP enables the entire trade process to be conducted electronically without the need for re-keying or manual intervention. When fully realized, STP will provide asset managers, broker/dealers, custodians and other financial services players with tremendous benefits, including greatly shortened processing cycles, reduced risk and lower operating costs.
About Accenture
Accenture is the world’s leading provider of management and technology consulting services and solutions. More than 70,000 people in 46 countries deliver a wide range of specialized capabilities and solutions to clients across all industries. Under its strategy, Accenture is building a network of businesses to meet the full range of client needs — consulting, technology, outsourcing, alliances and venture capital. Accenture’s home page address is http://www.accenture.com.
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