Opening Cross: Want a Data Oscar? Pick Your ‘Plus-Ones’ Wisely
![max-bowie max-bowie](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_750_463/public/import/IMG/807/101807/max-bowie-incisivemedia-color.jpg.webp?h=ee12d8fd&itok=FIjEj0Li)
Once last week’s Oscars were over, I set about whittling down the shortlists for our very own annual Inside Market Data and Inside Reference Data Awards. And reading through the past year’s stories all in one go, I realized that there was more collaboration and rapport between players in the data industry over the past year than between Oscars hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway.
This trend isn’t new: Data providers have cooperated for years when it suits them—Telerate and Cantor Fitzgerald both scored big goals with their seminal data distribution deal, while countless vendors have recognized the value of partnering with specialists to provide content or functionality in areas where they have less expertise, to deliver a more rounded overall product set that reduces the need for clients to go elsewhere. This is, if you will, The Social Network that has evolved between different parties over the years, blending competition and cooperation.
But it isn’t slowing, either, and is perhaps even becoming more common. Just take a look at the partnerships announced in the last week alone. Equiduct, which you can read more about in this week’s lead story, renewed a deal to source pan-European data from low-latency vendor Fixnetix for best execution and calculating its VBBO feed, and also enlisted datacenter provider Interxion to host its matching engines. Meanwhile, Swiss research and investment services provider ProFinance announced a “partnership” with SIX Telekurs to leverage its data in ProFinance’s Bond Solutions product.
This kind of content relationship is one that can benefit both parties—assuming they don’t directly compete with each other. And sometimes companies are willing to collaborate even when they do compete, such as the alliance announced last week between Thomson Reuters and interdealer broker Icap—operators of major rival FX pools of liquidity—to generate benchmark spot FX fixings for six major currency pairs based on rates from both pools. Also last week, Thomson Reuters partnered with market surveillance software vendor Redkite Financial Markets to offer hosted trade surveillance capabilities as part of the vendor’s Elektron infrastructure.
And while ultimately, many of these “partnerships” are ordinary client-supplier deals with a little extra hype from both parties—some of which eventually take a nosedive much less graceful than a Black Swan—the spirit of acting as partners can go a long way towards generating goodwill from end-user clients who want to see an attitude from their suppliers that is both entrepreneurial and collaborative.
But then again, some people will cut off their arm in much less than 127 Hours in return for a quality product, regardless of whether management sees the vendor as a “partner”. It’s this devotion from end-users to a product that meets all their needs that has led to Bloomberg scooping the overall best data vendor prize at our awards every year since their Inception in 2003. This year, will someone else—perhaps Thomson Reuters with revamped technology, Interactive Data with financial backing from new owners Warburg Pincus and Silver Lake, or the newly-formed McGraw-Hill Financial with former Bloomberg and Thomson Financial senior executive Lou Eccleston at the helm—prove to be The Fighter with the True Grit required to wrest the crown from Bloomberg?
It’ll soon be time to cast your votes in our awards again. This year, there will be another category for you to choose a winner—but this time, the answer is up to you: Last year, Inside Market Data inducted the 25 inaugural industry figures into our hall of fame, reflecting the 25 years IMD has been publishing. This year, we ask for your nominations for the 26th individual to grace the hallowed halls of market data royalty and deliver their own King’s Speech.
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. Printing this content is for the sole use of the Authorised User (named subscriber), as outlined in our terms and conditions - https://www.infopro-insight.com/terms-conditions/insight-subscriptions/
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. Copying this content is for the sole use of the Authorised User (named subscriber), as outlined in our terms and conditions - https://www.infopro-insight.com/terms-conditions/insight-subscriptions/
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
More on Emerging Technologies
This Week: IPC extends Google Cloud partnership, BlackRock/AIA, DTCC and more
A summary of the latest financial technology news.
Waters Wavelength Podcast: Deutsche Bank’s Boon-Hiong Chan
Boon-Hiong Chan from Deutsche Bank joins the podcast to talk about blockchain interoperability.
SocGen pushes data, analytics use cases for SG Markets
The bank is letting a handful of clients experiment with its proprietary data and models to inform their research.
Ace high or busted flush? Digital Asset’s mixed fortunes mirror DLT adversity
The vendor hoped to remodel post-trade using blockchain technology—and it still might—but its bumpy progress raises questions over the future of DLT in finance.
AI could cut time for money laundering checks by 99%
Leading crypto exchange rolling out large language model for enhanced due diligence checks.
Standard Chartered keeps faith with quantum experimentation
The bank is aiming to future-proof itself with the ability to adopt new technology at an early stage.
Waters Wrap: CME, Google and the pursuit of ultra-low-latency trading
CME Group and Google have announced Aurora, Illinois, as the location for the exchange’s new co-location facility. Anthony explains why this is more than just the next phase of the two companies’ originally announced project.
This Week: Genesis/Interop.io; S&P Global; Finos/OS-Climate and more
A summary of the latest financial technology news.