Credaris selects Markit credit data for enhanced risk management
London, 7 November 2005 - Credaris Portfolio Management ("Credaris"), an independent investment management platform, today announced that it has chosen Markit Group Limited ("Markit"), the leading industry source for independent pricing and asset valuations, for its credit data services.
Credaris, which has 1.3 billion euros in assets under management, provides tailored solutions to European financial institutions aiming to generate high risk-adjusted returns from their credit market asset allocations.
Under the terms of the agreement, Credaris will receive Markit's credit default swap (CDS) and loan pricing, in addition to Markit RED (Reference Entity Database) to assist in its management of credit risk, particularly in the structured credit arena.
Markit provides mark-to-market CDS pricing on over 2,700 individual entities and tiers of debt drawn from daily price contributions from over 50 dealing firms, and is used by global financial institutions for price verification and risk management purposes. Markit RED is the industry standard for reference entity and reference obligation identifiers used throughout the CDS markets.
Graham Neilson, portfolio manager at Credaris said: "As a modern credit asset manager, Credaris' objective is to provide the best risk management solutions for investors, for which we need the most accurate data available. Markit's services match the products we specialise in, including secured and unsecured credit derivatives and cash, and will be a cornerstone of our comprehensive risk analysis, measurement and reporting services."
Penny Davenport, Director, Product Management at Markit said: "We are delighted to have Credaris on board, and to provide them with the risk management tools that best equip them for an increasingly stringent regulatory environment. We are seeing growing demand for our products from asset managers, active in the global CDS markets, that are keen to boost their control and efficiency in this fast-growing market."
For more information please contact:
Credaris
Graham Neilson
Tel: +44 (0) 207 925 8300
Citigate
Patrick Donovan or Rachel Lankester
Tel: +44 (0) 207 638 9571
Markit
Teresa Chick
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7890 5094
About Credaris
Credaris is a specialist asset management company formed in November 2003 by HSH Nordbank. Credaris has approximately one point three billion euros under management in structured and corporate credit portfolios. It provides tailored investment products to financial institutions aiming to generate high quality returns from their credit investments. Products may include funds, CDO structures and managed accounts depending on the needs of customers. Furthermore, it seeks to improve the risk-return profile of existing portfolios by way of active restructuring, hedging and diversification strategies. Credaris employs 27 people of which 15 are experienced investment professionals.
About Markit
Markit is the benchmark industry source for independent pricing and valuations for global financial and energy markets. The company is an independent enterprise with which the world's leading financial institutions and energy traders work to create price transparency. Today, Markit enjoys the sponsorship of 18 financial institutions, who manage assets in excess of $10 trillion, and data contribution relationships with over 50 dealing firms. Markit has 20 market leading services which are used by over 300 institutions globally. Areas of product expertise include OTC derivatives (credit, equity, FX, rates, energy, power, metals and structured products), corporate bonds, syndicated loans, dividend forecasting, and index and ETF management. In 2005, Markit's services to the derivative markets have been acknowledged by the industry with awards from Financial News for Best Derivatives Data Provider, and from Institutional Investor's 'Operations Management' for Vendor of the Year. For more information about Markit, see www.markit.com