Payments (SWIFT)

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication ("SWIFT") operates a worldwide financial messaging network which exchanges messages between banks and other financial institutions. SWIFT also markets software and services to financial institutions, much of it for use on the SWIFTNet Network, and ISO 9362 bank identifier codes (BICs) are popularly known as "SWIFT codes".

The majority of international interbank messages use the SWIFT network. As of September 2010, SWIFT linked more than 9,000 financial institutions in 209 countries and territories, who were exchanging an average of over 15 million messages per day.[1] SWIFT transports financial messages in a highly secure way, but does not hold accounts for its members and does not perform any form of clearing or settlement.

SWIFT does not facilitate funds transfer, rather, it sends payment orders, which must be settled via correspondent accounts that the institutions have with each other. Each financial institution, to exchange banking transactions, must have a banking relationship by either being a bank or affiliating itself with one (or more) so as to enjoy those particular business features.

SWIFT is a cooperative society under Belgian law and it is owned by its member financial institutions. SWIFT has offices around the world. SWIFT headquarters are located in La Hulpe, Belgium, near Brussels. An average of 2.4 million messages, with aggregate value of $2 trillion, was processed by SWIFT per day in 1995. iHedge converts trades from a wide range of trading systems to SWIFT format. A number of different SWIFT types are supported.

These are often referred to as MT types. Whether the trade is in XML, JSON or CSV format, the iHedge SWIFT adapter is able to transform the trade to the corresponding SWIFT format within a few milliseconds. The SWIFT adapter is fully scalable and able to run in grid technology and on multiple servers at the same time. Using XSLT and XPATH for transformation purposes makes the iHedge SWIFT adapter the ideal way to generate your SWIFT messages.

By choosing the iHedge SWIFT adapter you will automatically benefit from new SWIFT types being added regulary. Adding support for a new SWIFT type is easy and straightforward, and as all our customers benefit from new SWIFT types, new SWIFT types can be built with a very low cost.

Online Trading (FpML)

FpML (Financial products Markup Language) is an XML message standard for the OTC Derivatives industry. All categories of privately negotiated derivatives will eventually be included within the standard. The standard is managed by ISDA on behalf of a community of investment banks that make a market in OTC derivatives.

The FpML standard was first published by JP Morgan and PricewaterhouseCoopers on 9 June 1999 in a paper titled "Introducing FpML: A New Standard for E-commerce". As a result, the FpML standards committee was founded. As of October 2009 FpML 4.7 is the latest [Recommendation] version.

The core scope includes the products of Foreign Exchange (FX) Swaps and Options, Interest Rate Swaps, Inflation Swaps, Asset Swaps, Swaptions, Credit Default Swaps, Credit Default Swap Indices, Credit Default Swap Baskets, Tranches on Credit Default Swap Indices, Equity Options, Equity Swaps, Total Return Swaps, and many others.

The core processes include trading, valuation, confirmation, novations, increases, amendments, terminations, allocations, position reporting, cash flow matching, a formal definition of party roles, as well as trade notification between asset managers and custodians. The FpML community is currently working on versions 4.8 and 5.0. FpML is distinct from similar financial standards such as SWIFT and FIX in scope because it provides no network or specification of a transport mechanism.

The iHedge FpML adapter is able to convert a number of trade formats to FpML. The iHedge FpML adapter enables you to implement STP in your business in a fast and convenient way. By using XSLT and XPATH the conversion process is optimized to handle a large number of trades in very little time. A fully scalable setup also supporting grid technology ensures your ability to scale your business accordingly and execute in time to market.

Trading Adapters

By working with a wide range of trading systems, iHedge has built solid competences and understanding for many of these systems. This has resulted in a large number of, what we call, trading adapters. A trading adapter is an easy way to communicate with a trading system, and will reduce implementation time and costs, especially in combination with any other iHedge product.

Calypso

Calypso Technology offers financial institutions and corporate treasuries an integrated trading, risk and processing platform for derivatives and treasury product which provides the most solid foundation for future business growth. The iHedge Calypso adapter is able to transform Calypso trades into either FIX, FAST, FpML, FSON or SWIFT.

Infinity

Infinity can help you achieve a process-centric organization by combining:

• A repository for a broad range of software components, including those of SunGard, its partner network and customers
• A portal that offers a centralized resource for educational materials, billing, subscription, and licensing services as part of overall account management
• An infrastructure with a framework to compose, test, and host solutions that leverages grid computing and virtualization technology
• A service-level-agreement-based 24/7 call center and utility stack for integration services The iHedge Calypso adapter is able to transform Calypso trades into either FIX, FAST, FpML, FSON or SWIFT.

WSS

Wallstreet FX Sales & Trading Solutions are used by some of the world’s most successful FX businesses. They incorporate robust and compelling web based tools, applications to support the sales desk with pricing and CRM, plus trading and risk management tools to optimize trading performance and efficiency. The iHedge WSS adapter is able to transform WSS FX trades into either FIX, FAST, FpML, FSON or SWIFT.

Murex

More than 150 institutions rely today on Murex. Among them, global sell-side leaders in credit, interest rate, FX, equity, energy and commodity trading consistently choose Murex following rigorous selection processes. The most prestigious and demanding hedge funds base their sophisticated investment strategies on the Murex portfolio management framework. Other organizations such as corporations, utilities, oil groups and trading groups also rely on cutting edge solutions as part of their trading and/or hedging activities. The iHedge Murex adapter is able to transform Murex commodity trades into either FpML, FSON or SWIFT.

Bloomberg

In 1981 Bloomberg started out with one core belief: that bringing transparency to capital markets through access to information could increase capital flows, produce economic growth and jobs, and significantly reduce the cost of doing business. Today’s Bloomberg builds on that foundation - everything they do connects decision makers in business, finance and government to a broad and dynamic network of information, news, people and ideas that enables faster, more effective decisions. The iHedge Bloomberg adapter transforms FX products, Commodities, Equities, Derivatives and Fixed Income trades into either FIX, FAST, FpML, FSON or SWIFT.

RET (Reuters Electronic Trading)

Reuters Electronic Trading is a comprehensive Foreign Exchange and Money Markets trading solution for financial institutions around the world. It can be deployed internally or as a hosted service and includes a powerful multi-asset class trading engine. This offers you the right platform on which for building a complete electronic sales channel to meet your particular requirements. The iHedge RET adapter is able to transform RET trades into either FIX, FAST, FpML, FSON or SWIFT.

Rolfe & Nolan

For exchange-traded derivatives, ION provides a product line, Rolfe & Nolan, which offers solutions throughout the trade lifecycle. Over thirty years of experience has been harnessed into producing a powerful suite of products making the Rolfe & Nolan product line one of the world’s leading specialist solutions. The iHedge Rolfe & Nolan adapter is able to transform Rolfe & Nolan trades into either FIX, FAST, FpML, FSON or SWIFT.

Martini

SunGard’s Martini provides integrated global trading and operations support for financial institutions worldwide. With a scalable, adjustable interface, Martini adapts to the needs of investment banks, broker-dealers and hedge funds with ease. A global, real-time platform for an institution’s bond- and equity-financing needs. The iHedge Martini adapter is able to transform Martini trades into either FIX, FAST, FpML, FSON or SWIFT.

Front Arena

SunGard’s Front Arena delivers the performance, control and flexibility you need to compete more aggressively in today’s volatile and fast-changing markets. Accurate pricing, hedging and quoting, support for virtually any instrument and a scalable, user-friendly interface make Front Arena one of the top programs for financial institutions worldwide. It covers all traded products, liquid and illiquid, OTC and exchange-traded, standardized and structured. True straight-through processing and intelligent workflows helps give your firm greater control over the entire trade process. The iHedge Front Arena adapter is able to transform Front Arena trades into either FIX, FAST, FpML, FSON or SWIFT.

Exchanges (FIX)

The Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol is an electronic communications protocol initiated in 1992 for international real-time exchange of information related to the securities transactions and markets. With trillions of dollars traded annually on the NASDAQ alone, financial service entities are investing heavily in optimizing electronic trading and employing Direct Market Access (DMA) to increase their speed to financial markets.

Managing the delivery of trading applications and keeping latency low increasingly requires an understanding of the FIX protocol. The FIX Protocol specification was originally authored in 1992 by Chris Morstatt and Robert "Bob" Lamoureux to enable electronic communication of equity trading data between Fidelity Investments and Salomon Brothers.

FIX has become the de facto messaging standard for pre-trade and trade communication in the global equity markets, and is expanding into the post-trade space to support Straight Through Processing, as well as continuing to expand into foreign exchange, fixed income and derivatives markets.

The iHedge FIX adapter is able to convert a number of trading system formats to FIX format. Also the iHedge FIX adapter enables communication between trading parties, no matter if you are using a leased line, a point to point VPN or a hub and spoke solution.

FAST

The FAST (FIX Adapted for Streaming) protocol is a technology standard developed by FIX Protocol Ltd., specifically aimed at optimizing data representation on the network. It is used to support high-throughput, low latency data communications between financial institutions.

In particular, it is a technology standard that offers significant compression capabilities for the transport of high-volume market data feeds and ultra low latency applications.

The iHedge FAST adapter offers the same possibilities as the iHedge FIX adapter. Although very alike the iHedge FAST adapter is optimized for speed and bandwidth. The iHedge FAST adapter offers blazing speed and access to a wide range of leading exchanges.

Confirmations (SWIFT)

When you buy or sell a stock or bond, your brokerage firm will send you a confirmation, or printed document, with the details of the transaction. Confirmations include the price, any fees, and the trade and settlement dates. Stock confirmations also include the commission if it applies. These documents are your backup for calculating capital gains and losses.

You'll also receive a confirmation to reaffirm orders you place, such as a good 'til canceled order to buy or sell a certain stock at a stop or limit price. In addition, activity in your trading account, such as stock splits, spinoffs, or mergers will trigger a confirmation notice.

The iHedge Confirmation Adapter can produce confirmations in PDF or SWIFT format. Depending on the receiving party this adapter supports distribution through email, regular mail, FAX, or a fully automated real time data exchange using queue or file technology.

Asset Allocation (INTAA)

In short, what is INTAA INTAA is an abbreviation for “International asset allocation” and is a valuable strategic decision tool which is used to support decisions about asset allocation. Primarily INTAA addresses investment managers, portfolio managers, financial analysts and financial managers.

Currently you use Most businesses have their own developed procedure to evaluate their portfolio compositions. Naturally it is important since there are many factors to consider when you deal with a lot of money. You spend a lot of time gathering relevant data to compose your portfolios in the most appropriate way.

Furthermore it can be difficult to get a quick overview of alternative strategies. What is new and what is INTAA capable of INTAA is a collection of multiple data and calculations that contribute to an objective standard of reference against one’s own portfolios.

INTAA is an easily accessible product that does not need to be installed but can be accessed from the outside as a cloud service. INTAA can be used for forecasting and reporting returns and risk of alternative combinations of asset classes. In relation to impact assessments and optimization recommendations it is a perfect tool to communicate allocation strategies. Thereby INTAA can be used as a strategic management decision tool.

INTAA product features Historical data You can see the historical rate development of the individual asset classes. Scenario generation The future’s rate development is represented here by a number of scenarios. This allows you to make a number of scenario analyses for your portfolio of assets. Impact assessment (/consequence analysis) You can see how your portfolio performs under different conditions in different periods of time.

For instance how they performed during the 2008-crisis and how the future development will be. Optimization You can make a portfolio optimization taking into account different risk objectives (for instance variance or tail risk). Such optimization can cater for existing portfolios, practical and political constraints as well as attitudes towards risk.

With INTAA you will get:

• An objective sparring partner in relation to asset allocation decisions.
• A monitoring tool that will make the development of your portfolios in terms of return and risk visible.
• The possibility to create fictitious portfolios for benchmarking.

About iHedge

In the year 2000, four developers from the financial sector had an idea. Their desire was to develop and deliver a risk management system to the largest banks in Scandinavia. The four developers saw a need in the financial world, which they, with their experience could fulfill. Thus formed the company iHedge A/S which since has expanded rapidly.

At iHedge A/S, we are currently 10+ employees, most of which are developers, who with their strong capabilities solves many complex tasks for our customers. Employees at the office in Ørestaden works primarily with our financial products. We strive to know all that is changing for our customers within their industry

We have a good energy and we do all development in close collaboration with our customers and partners.

iHedge has strong business knowledge, from which our customers and their business benefit. In time we have become specialists in that streamlining and automating trade process flows.

Relevant Links

• iHedge DK Site (Danish Only)
• Financial Dictionary
• MarkIt Wire Commodities
• Marritt School

Contact us

Welcome

As a market leading provider of financial products for capital markets, iHedge is up to date with the latest for major parts of the trading process. From deal capturing to payments, confirmations and postings, iHedge offers a wide range of products which can help your company stay fit for the latest twists and turns.

Our main objective is to automize all the processes around trading, leaving more room to product development and sales thus boosting your comapny's profit and earnings.

Below you can see the areas in which iHedge can provide assistance to your business.