Advent rolls out new index data service

Advent Software Inc. this week introduced an index data service that allows advisers to download index performance data from Standard & Poor's and Russell Investments directly into Advent Portfolio Exchange, its integrated portfolio and client relationship management system. The new utilities are intended to allow users of APX to more quickly respond to their clients as well as portfolio managers when it comes to producing performance analytics and reduce a lot of the formerly manual entry of data. Through the new service index performance data is pre-formatted specifically for APX and is classified at both the industry and security level. The data is available on a daily or historical basis. In addition, S&P Global Industry Classification Standard sector-level index data, for use with APX's performance analytics reports, is available at no charge to all APX clients. “The addition of Advent's index data service allows us to download index data directly to APX, saving us from the hassle of manually loading and reconciling the data,” said Michelle Gosom, vice president of Reed Conner & Birdwell LLC, in a prepared statement. In a separate e-mail exchange Ms. Gosom wrote that her company subscribes to Russell's index services. She noted that the new utility from Advent saves a lot of processing time when downloading raw data into Advent's portfolio accounting software. For more information on Advent's APX system, visit the company's APX pages online. Related stories: Bond portal added to S&P's MarketScope Advisor challenges Morningstar research offerings Version 3.0 of Advent's Revenue Center out today Fidelity, Pershing, Schwab, TD in a tech 'arms race' Financial advisers sing the praises of account aggregation services