Norwegian insurance and financial services provider KLP Kapitalforvaltning is using the GAIN platform from Austria’s AIM Software for the integration of data from vendors including Reuters (DataScope) and Bloomberg (Per Security) into its core SimCorp system, after a two-week implementation.

According to Frank Maltais, head of pre-sales at AIM Software, KLP contacted the vendor last summer, following a reference from Reuters, looking for a data integration platform to interface with its SimCorp system and enable it to make a smooth transition from its existing manual process for getting data from Reuters and Bloomberg into the system. “KLP wanted to automate the input of stock and bond data into their system, to decrease operational risk and human error and to achieve high quality STP,” he says.

The two-week implementation represents a far more rapid project time than would be achievable with an inhouse system, Maltais contends. “After that two week period, as with any system, there were things to fine-tune and optimise, but essentially we were able to interface Reuters and Bloomberg into the core system in two weeks.”

Because GAIN comprises a range of pre-built functionality, after receiving training from AIM Software KLP was able to independently use the system to interface additional feeds from S&P and MSCI, and some flat files from the Norwegian Stock Exchange, he says.

Going forward, KLP’s strategy is to use the system to manage corporate actions processing and price cleansing between sources. “They have bought a platform, not a black box solution, which means with the knowledge they now have they can apply the platform to their business requirements as they arise,” Maltais adds.
“With the two main data sources Bloomberg and Reuters, it was becoming necessary to implement solid data centralization strategies and straight-through processes,” says Kåre Østerud, head of the reference data group at KLP. “AIM met our criteria and stood out among the competition for the maturity of its product and the breadth of its functionality. It was also important to have a full audit trail for reference data.”