NEW YORK -- Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, a brokerage arm for Deutsche Bank in the United States, will provide its institutional clients access to Plexus Group's TransPort system.
This is the first time Plexus will offer the Internet-based trading cost analysis service through a brokerage firm, a strategy the firm hopes to develop to enhance the amount of trading data it can provide to clients.
After Jan. 1, Los Angeles-based Plexus expects to start beta-testing TransPort with Deutsche, with clients obtaining the service by logging on to Deutsche's Web site.
TransPort can be used by plan executives and money managers to benchmark transaction costs through scenario analysis to determine how much each component of a trade adds to the total cost.
"We think clients will be excited that this institutional third party will be providing information in a secure environment," said Matthew Carrara, managing director of Deutsche.
Robeco Group picks LandMark trading system
BOSTON -- The LongView Group continues to add users of its LandMark trade order management system overseas.
The Robeco Group, Rotterdam Netherlands, selected the software and plans to move all of its equity trading activities onto the LandMark system in the coming weeks.
David Eaton, LongView's director of marketing, said the firm is expanding its presence particularly in the United Kingdom and Asia. Several European investment management firms are using the software, including Gartmore Investment Management PLC and Delaware International Investment Advisers Ltd. LandMark is now in use by eight European and two Asian clients. The firm has 50 clients.
Vestek Select program now offered in Japan
SAN FRANCISCO -- Vestek, a unit of Primark, is launching its Vestek Select mutual fund research program in Japan.
The software allows fund organizations and third-party distributors to use forward-looking analysis based on actual mutual fund holdings rather than depending on past performance alone. Information on both U.S. and Japanese mutual funds is included.
So far, 14 fund managers have joined the program, including Taiyo Investment Trust & Management and Commerz International Capital Management. Distributors Watson Wyatt K.K. and Global Wrap Consulting Group also are using Vestek Select in Japan.
Canadian Broadcasting signs with PAMConnect
OTTAWA -- The C$3.5 billion (U.S. $5.2 billion) Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Pension Fund has contracted with Princeton Financial Services to use its PAMConnect service.
The service allows clients to outsource administration to Princeton's service bureau, rather than getting an individual site license for the accounting, management, analysis and reporting software.
Executives of the CBC fund will use PAM for Mutual Funds; PAM for Mortgages; PAM for Real Estate; and other PAM systems for compliance, performance attribution, reconciliation with custodian banks and integration with external market data providers.
State Street launches online research group
BOSTON -- State Street Corp. has created a subsidiary focusing on offering online global market research and asset allocation and optimization products called State Street Associates LLC.
A research team will be guided by an advisory council of academics in international finance: Krishna Ramaswamy, professor of finance at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania; Alan Marcus, professor of finance at Boston College; Gary Gastineau, senior vice president of the American Stock Exchange; Don Rich, professor of finance of Northeastern University; and Ken Froot, director of research at Harvard University's Graduate School of Business.
Mr. Froot; Rudi Dornbusch, Ford International professor of economics and international management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Mark Kritzman, managing partner of Windham Capital Management; and Stanley W. Shelton, executive vice president of State Street and head of its global trading and research business, will serve as senior partners in the new company.
Tools have been offered for three years through State Street Corp.'s Global Link through a partnership that now has been formalized into a company, a spokesman said.
PIMCO creates post of information officer
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Robert A. Ettl has been named chief information officer for Pacific Investment Management Co., a new position.
Mr. Ettl will oversee the company's overall technology strategies, including the implementation of technology in the investment process and general operating areas.
The new position was created because of the growth the company has experienced in recent years, a spokesman said.
Mr. Ettl had been an executive vice president and chief operating officer of PIMCO's global unit. His replacement has yet to be named.
