Deals & People October 29, 2007

BISYS’ New Name Says It is “Moving Up″

BISYS Retirement Services, on Monday unveiled its new name: Ascensus.
Reported by

The rebranding follows the announcement earlier this year that BISYS Retirement Services was acquired by private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC and would operate as a division of Crump Group, Inc., according to a news release (See Citi to Buy BISYS and Spin Off Retirement Services Unit).

“The goal of the name change is to establish a clear brand that emphasizes the company’s extensive industry experience as well as its forward-looking business strategy which continues to evolve the company beyond its core administrative solutions,” the announcement said.

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The announcement said Ascensus is a Latin word, meaning “a moving upward.” The BISYS Retirement Services name and logo will be phased out gradually over the coming months.

Products October 29, 2007

S&P Announces New Market Research Tool for Advisers

Standard&Poor's Equity Research Services has introduced a new market intelligence tool that provides the financial advisory market with a central source of real-time qualitative stock analysis, thematic research, strategic asset allocation, and market commentary.
Reported by
With MarketScope Advisor, financial advisers can quickly leverage Standard & Poor’s Equity Research to take advantage of market moves and emerging opportunities, a news release said. Advisers can navigate among six discrete modules to manage a multitude of workflow tasks, stay on top of market events, and generate new ideas that meet their clients’ investment needs.
The modules are:
  • MarketView – for short updates on market-moving stocks, Standard & Poor’s STARS upgrades/downgrades, activity on the Street, merger talk, stock splits, and S&P’s asset allocation recommendations and global outlook;
  • MarketScan – for obtaining market statistics, S&P market commentary and breaking news;
  • TrendScope – for in-depth, thematic analysis of recent and emerging trends in health care, energy, lifestyle, Green Investing, Sector Investing, Emerging Markets and more. Offers access to a variety of S&P equity, mutual fund, and ETF recommendations suitable for pairing with allocations derived from S&P investment strategies, equity research and model portfolios;
  • Calendars – for informing clients about potential market-moving events such as government data announcements, IPO calendars, and more;
  • Rankings – for keeping clients abreast of S&P STARS stock recommendation changes, and how these changes may impact their portfolios; and
  • Portfolios – for guiding the creation of individual client portfolios and monitoring the performance of S&P’s own suite of model portfolios.
“With MarketScope Advisor, financial professionals can use the knowledge and insights provided by Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services to enhance client communications and decision-making regarding investment opportunities across asset classes and around the globe,” said Larry Neal, Executive Managing Director, Standard & Poor’s, in the announcement.
More information on Standard & Poor’s MarketScope Advisor is available at www.marketscope.standardandpoors.com or by calling 800-523-4534.

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