StatPro Adds Options, OTC Derivatives to Revolution

UK-based data and portfolio analytics provider StatPro has rolled out an updated version of its Revolution cloud-based portfolio analytics platform, adding coverage of options and over-the-counter derivatives as well as new portfolio types, in response to client demand.

The new coverage includes interest rate swaps and credit default swaps, as well as exchange-listed equity, index and currency options, sourced via unnamed third-party data providers, adding to the platform's existing coverage of global equities, indexes, bonds and mutual funds.

The move is in response to clients -- including wealth managers, fund administrators and registered investment advisors -- building more complex portfolios, says Neil Smyth, marketing and technology director at StatPro. "These days, even simple portfolios can include different instruments, so it's critical for us to add this new data coverage," he adds.

StatPro has also added the ability for users to create model portfolios with holdings defined as a percentage of the portfolio. By maintaining a model based on allocation as percentages, users can configure Revolution to maintain that asset allocation model by rebalancing the portfolio at specific intervals, to test segment allocation strategies or to use it as a benchmark for other portfolios, rather than manually recalculating how to rebalance the portfolio as the market value of the portfolio holdings change. Wealth managers in particular are interested in leveraging this feature to benchmark client portfolios against their model portfolio, Smyth says.

Users can also now quickly create "carve-out" portfolios, which isolate a particular segment of an existing portfolio -- such as individual instrument types, all securities in a specific sector, or the entire portfolio with certain segments excluded -- for analysis as a separate portfolio. Previously, users would have to create a second portfolio and manually add holdings with the same classifications as the underlying securities of the original portfolio, whereas now they simply select the parent portfolio and the classifiers for the new portfolio, and Revolution creates the carve-out portfolio automatically. "It was a laborious process before... but it's driven now completely within the GUI," Smyth says.

"These days, even simple portfolios can include different instruments, so it's critical for us to add this new data coverage," - Neil Smyth, marketing and technology director, StatPro

The vendor is also introducing a new, visual portfolio picker in Revolution, providing clients the option to display portfolios as individual "tiles," color-coded according to user-defined measurements, such as returns or total assets. Client portfolios were previously presented as a list, which clients could sort by different columns, whereas the visual portfolio picker provides a more interactive view, enabling users to zoom in on subsets of tiles to find which portfolios they want to administer or analyze. "Say I've got lots of little tiles, all color-coded so I can look at yesterday's return. I can see which portfolios had a bad day, then go and analyze them closer," Smyth adds.