Markit launched the first multi-bank, cross-asset client valuations platform. The initiative was first announced in February last year.
Markit Valuations Manager offers a secure, standardized view of over-the-counter (OTC) derivative positions and derivative and cash instrument valuations across counterparties on a single electronic platform. according to a release from the firm.
The subscribers to Markit's Portfolio Valuations service can now view the bank counterparty valuations alongside Markit's independent valuations.
Portfolio managers are also receiving numerous statements from their counterparties in multiple formats, which needs manual consolidation. A recent survey of 50 asset managers conducted by Markit highlighted the need for a secure electronic valuations process.
The results of the survey are the following:
According to the poll, 17% of respondents said that a single file delivery of counterparty statements would save them between 50 and 1,000 hours of work a month. On average, respondents projected a time savings of over 49 hours a month.
More complete position information and a standard statement format across all counterparties ranked as the most important improvements required, followed by an efficient price challenge mechanism.
The survey showed that 66% of the respondents said that they received their counterparty statements by email, underlining the potential security risk of misplaced or incorrectly forwarded emails.
Over 65% of respondents said they were under pressure to conduct more frequent reconciliation with counterparties and provide more frequent NAV computation to investors.
The new platform incorporates a dispute mechanism and workflow tools with full audit trail to enhance the price challenge process. Markit Valuations Manager is integrated with Markit's Trade Processing PortRec service to enable full life cycle support for OTC derivative positions including counterparty position data delivery, normalisation[1], reconciliation and valuation.
Markit is launching the platform with six banks Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and UBS and expects to add additional participating banks over the coming months
