SANTA MONICA, Calif. - The new 3.0 version of Wilshire Associates' Compass, a software consulting tool for plan sponsors, is adding a Morningstar database of more than 7,300 mutual funds and a tactical asset allocation application.
Users of Compass can filter 37 different investment categories of the mutual fund database. The database also includes analytics to determine manager skills, attribution analysis and analysis of the mutual fund universe.
Compass software is Windows-based. It is designed to help plan sponsors manage risk and enhance returns using analytics developed at Wilshire over the last 20 years.
The TAA module is new. It identifies leading indicators to forecast market returns. Using TAA, users can build models for stock/bond, value/growth and bond/cash applications. The TAA database includes more than 150 fundamental, economic and technical factors for the global equity and fixed income markets.
The new version of Compass also has a new research module. For more information, contact Rob Knowles at Wilshire Associates, (310) 260-6653.
PAM updated for Windows
PRINCETON, N.J. - Princeton Financial Systems has released the Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 95 versions of its PAM investment management systems.
Executives for Princeton Financial claim PAM Version 5.0 is the first commercially available investment management system specifically engineered to take full advantage of the 32-bit architecture and client/server capabilities of the Windows NT and Windows 95 operating systems.
The new version offers increased speed combined with an enhanced graphical user interface.
PAM Version 5.0 was developed with the latest object-oriented programming techniques, which permit the re-use of blocks of programming code and data objects, a grouping of data and code, for various functions.
PAM also used object linking and embedding technology.
For further information, contact Gordon Gacek at Princeton Financial, (609) 987-2400.
Satellite index created
NEW YORK - BZW, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC, introduced what BZW officials claim is the world's first satellite technology index, the BZW SATIN 25.
The index is composed of 25 leading stocks in the satellite and space sector. It is being disseminated worldwide by Bloomberg L.P. and can be accessed through Bloomberg terminals.
BZW SATIN 25 was developed with a base value of 100 as of Jan. 3, 1995, and is capitalization-weighted. The index returned 38.02% for 1995 and is up 19.95% for the first five months of 1996, closing at 165.55.
For further information, contact Steve Perriman at BZW, (212) 412-6885.
New sales exec at Security APL
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Alexander Gould has been named national sales manager for Security APL, a new position. He had been director, sales and marketing, for Quantec America, a provider of investment technology services based in London. From 1983 to 1993, he was senior vice president of I/B/E/S Inc., New York, a global investment information service.
Telesphere opens in London
NEW YORK - Telesphere Corp., New York, a vendor of electronic securities information, opened an office in London, Telesphere Global Services Ltd.
It will support customers throughout the United Kingdom. Telesphere acquired a substantial portion of Telekurs (NA) during a management buy-out last year.
For further information, call (44-171) 608-9800.
Intranet application suite
CUPERTINO, Calif. - NetManage has introduced Chameleon 5.0 for Windows 95, an intranet application suite that integrates corporate data with World Wide Web applications. The application supports both Microsoft's ActiveX Controls, (formerly known as OLE custom controls) and Netscape plug-ins. For more information, call NetManage, (408) 257-6405.
Bond research on the Web
BOSTON - FIRST CALL BondCall will introduce a World Wide Web site that offers full-text fixed-income research reports that are real time.
The site, called BondCall Reports, will be accessible only to authorized users. It is being tested by contributors for internal distribution of their reports.
BondCall provides more than 200 institutional investment firms with electronic access to real-time analysis from major bond houses, ratings agencies and other third parties, including SEC filings. For information, contact Mike Detwiler, FIRST CALL, (617) 345-2636.
Lutherans choose MAXIMIS
APPLETON, Wis. - The Aid Association for Lutherans selected Premier Solutions Ltd.'s MAXIMIS software to support its investment accounting operations and investment reporting requirements.
Ken Schiller, investment systems consultant at AAL, said the organization selected MAXIMIS because of the strength of its architecture and because of Premier's plan for the growth of the software system.
For further information, contact Bob Dunn at Premier Solutions, (610) 251-6500.
Traders get new system
NEW YORK - Smith Barney Inc. has selected IPC Information Systems Inc.'s TRADENET MX turret as the telecommunications system to be used by the investment bank's trading floors.
Under a five-year agreement, IPC will design, install and service Smith Barney's trading positions worldwide. The agreement is in addition to IPC's existing relationship with Smith Barney to install TRADENET MX turrets or telecommunications systems, at trading operations in New York.
For further information, contact Paul Orefice at IPC, (201) 539-0300.
Desktop video delivery
NEW YORK - A new touch-screen trader turret, a telecommunications system, and a new market data distribution system designed specifically for Windows NT are being offered by British Telecommunications PLC, New York.
The new turret, pV705, includes a more powerful processor and memory configuration than older models, a new color liquid crystal display screen and an ergonomic design to significantly reduce desk space requirements. The pV705 will offer video capability that, when combined with BT's cabling architecture, MegaLink, will provide traders with a desktop video delivery system.
BT's Open Trading system Version 3 capitalizes on the improved speed, processing power and multitasking capabilities of Windows NT.
