Press Release
Principia enhanced to integrate Standard & Poor's Structured Finance Evaluated Pricing
Critical link established to more than 1.1 million US and European structured securities
London, United Kingdom/Jersey City, NJ 12th June, 2006 - Principia Partners, a leading provider of advanced end-to-end processing solutions for structured finance and capital markets, today announced that its clients can now incorporate Standard & Poor's Securities Evaluations (SPSE) intraday pricing service for US and European structured finance bonds into Principia SFP. Principia SFP is the leading solution for the management and administration of structured finance operations as well as asset-backed securities and mortgage-based securities (ABS/MBS) and structured credit investment management. The SPSE service provides intraday and daily valuations on more than 1.1 million US and European structured finance securities, including ABS, RMBS and CMBS.
"The ability to include independent valuations from a trusted evaluated pricing industry leader such as SPSE will significantly enhance and facilitate the cross-asset portfolio monitoring, end-of-day processing and risk management capabilities of Principia SFP," states Dr. Douglas Long, EVP - Business Strategy at Principia Partners. Principia's clients are among the largest portfolio managers of structured finance securities and structured credit products, leveraging the system to automate end-to-end processing of ABS/MBS and credit instruments from deal capture to exposure analysis to accounting.
The SPSE service applies advanced cash flow modelling on securities based on analysis of underlying collateral, cash flows, prepayment speeds and credit spreads. The ability for an end user to integrate SPSE's evaluated prices further extends the Principia SFP solution's chief benefit: reducing manual processing and operation risks commonly associated with managing financial instruments with uncertain cash flows and market risk factors. "For our structured finance clients, the ability to manage ABS and MBS instruments on the same valuation platform with other assets, liabilities and derivatives is critical to meeting cost and new business development objectives," states Dr. Long.
One of the challenges faced by financial institutions investing in European structured finance securities is the lack of transparency and independence of structured bond valuations. As the securitisation market continues to rapidly evolve, more timely and independent valuations of structured finance securities are required in order for the industry to sustain its growth and to meet emerging regulatory issues. "The recent rapid growth in securitisation issuance, especially in Europe, has not been matched by the development of a liquid secondary market, and this has raised concerns about the transparency, independence and consistency of valuing many structured bonds. Our service provides an independent, rigorous and credible answer for daily valuation and mark-to-market issues within this important but thinly traded market. We are very pleased to be working with a proven applications provider such as Principia to deliver consistent, independent data in a scalable, robust platform that will help support the industry's evolving needs for the pricing of complex OTC securities," states Peter Jones, Director, Securities Evaluations at SPSE.
Note: Both Principia Partners and Standard & Poor’s Securities Evaluations are exhibiting at the Global ABS Conference, Barcelona from 12th – 15th June 2006. For further information their exhibition stands can be found at www.imn.org.
About Principia Partners
Principia Partners is the leading software provider for the management and administration of structured finance and credit investment operations. Some of the largest investors in structured credit ABS, MBS and CDOs use Principia SFP as the operational backbone for their portfolios. It enables them to consistently manage, analyze and report on these investments and their associated liabilities and hedges. On a single platform, clients can perform the full range of portfolio management, cashflow and exposure analysis, compliance, risk reporting and accounting activities demanded by their business. Operational inefficiencies associated with using multiple spreadsheets and undedicated systems are reduced by integrating and streamlining these activities on a unified platform that addresses challenges unique to the management of structured finance operations.
Principia SFP’s powerful analytics and ability to interface with, combine and consistently apply deal, cashflow and performance data from the leading industry providers empowers managers to know and understand their investments. On an ongoing basis, users have the control to track, analyze and evaluate risk exposures at the deal, tranche or collateral level and gain a consolidated view of risk across any number of portfolios. The fully auditable operational environment provides the flexibility needed to adapt to changing management, regulatory and accounting mandates and ensure transparency is consistently delivered to investors at every stage of the portfolio lifecycle.
For 15 years, the platform has been used by global commercial banks, insurance companies and investment managers, as well as supporting off-balance sheet operations such as ABCP conduits.
Principia Partners is headquartered in New York, with a European office in the City of London and a technology center in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
For press information contact:
Ben Jarrold
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7618 1370
Email: Jarrold@ppllc.com
About Standard & Poor's Securities Evaluations, Inc.
Standard & Poor’s provides independent valuations on over 2.5 million fixed income securities. Our specialist team of professional evaluators generate daily and intra-day prices for a comprehensive range of instruments. Our proprietary valuation methodology enables us to derive clear, considered and timely prices from the full range of information available, helping firms avoid regional pricing discrepancies and other issues on illiquid markets.
We research and price the following fixed income instruments: Corporates, Governments, CMO/ABS/CMBS/MBS, Syndicated loans, US Municipals, Certificates of Deposit and Swaps/Swaptions. Also, on offer is a bespoke service that allows for coverage of specific securities on request. Securities evaluation services are provided by Standard & Poor's Securities Evaluations Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the McGraw-Hill Companies. Analytic services and products provided by Standard & Poor's are the result of separate activities designed to preserve the independence and objectivity of each analytic process. Standard & Poor's has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of non-public information during each analytic process.
About Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research, data and valuations. With approximately 6,300 employees located in 20 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit www.standardandpoors.com.
Standard & Poor's product information:
George McFerran
+44 (0)20 7176 7433
george_mcferran@standardandpoors.com
Peter Jones
+44 (0)20 7176 7441
peter_jones@standardandpoors.com
Katharina Voudouris
+212 438 4442
Katharina_Voudouris@standardandpoors.com