Mondo Visione: Contineo Recognised For Outstanding Wealth Management

Contineo, the industry-backed messaging network for equity-linked structured products, was awarded a Highly Commended award for Outstanding Wealth Management Technology Initiative – Front End at the Private Banker International Wealth Awards in Singapore last week.The awards, now in their 10th year, recognise global leaders in private wealth management. CEO Mark Munoz said the award was a welcome endorsement for the Contineo team.

“These awards are based on nominations, and we are proud that the industry saw fit to nominate us,” he said. “Contineo is unique in that our network and products are designed by the industry, for the industry with our Advisory Group and subscribers driving the development agenda. Public recognition like this shows us that the industry is really on board with what we are doing.”

Contineo went live in June as a communications hub for products including Equity Linked Notes; Knock-Out Equity Linked Notes; Accumulator; Decumulator; Fixed Coupon Notes; DRAN and OTC Options. Since go-live the firm is also launching new data products to illuminate the ‘black hole of trading.’

“Contineo is developing a range of data products that will bring transparency to the structured product market for the first time,” he said. “We’ve had terrific feedback from our industry partners and look forward to bringing further insights to the industry in the near future.”

Read the article on Mondovisione


Mondo Visione: Contineo Wins Best Multi-Issuer Platform Asia Pacific

Contineo, the industry-backed messaging network for equity-linked structured products, last night won Best Multi-Issuer Platform Asia Pacific at the annual Structured Retail Products Awards in Hong Kong.The award was based on votes from over 700 private, retail and investment banks across the region. CEO Mark Munoz said the award was testament to the traction Contineo had got in the market since going live in June.

“This award is particularly valuable because it’s based on direct feedback from the industry,” he said. “From our inception, we have designed Contineo to fulfill the needs of both the buy- and sell-sides. Our product decisions are made with our Advisory Group, and we think this is key to being the best network that serves the entire industry. This makes our business unique in the space and we’re very proud to see that being publicly recognised.”

Contineo went live exactly three months ago as a communications hub for products including Equity Linked Notes; Knock-Out Equity Linked Notes; Accumulator; Decumulator; Fixed Coupon Notes; DRAN and OTC Options. Munoz said the firm had received great feedback.

“Thanks to the support of our subscribers, we continue to enhance our offering,” he said. “Our wholehearted thanks to all who voted for us, recognising the value we bring as the only neutral, unconflicted platform of our kind.”

Read more at Mondovisione


Risk.net: Multi-issuer Platforms Clash Over MIPs’ Purpose

Contineo and deritrade are divided on whether MIPs are simply an information exchange hub or an all-inclusive tool enabling private banks to check, trade and manage structured products

Multi-issuer platforms (MIPs) are jostling over more than just customers. Contineo describes an MIP primarily as a hub where private banks can exchange information with issuers, while deritrade offers a competing definition, saying these networks should go further and facilitate all activities linked to the trading of structured products.

Hong Kong-based Contineo went live in June, challenging deritrade, a platform by Swiss banking group Vontobel that launched in Asia in early 2015. MIPs provide the buy side with standardised access to structured product issuers, simplifying price discovery and reducing costs and risks compared with direct dealer-to-client transactions.

Six key regional structured product issuers – Barclays, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan and Societe Generale – have pledged to issue structured products on Contineo, which is active only in Asia. Vontobel’s platform currently has only one issuer – Vontobel’s investment bank – on its roster in Asia, though it boasts seven buy-side subscribers in the region compared to Contineo’s one.

Speaking at the Structured Products Asia conference in Hong Kong on September 1, Mark Munoz, Contineo’s managing director, said an MIP should be seen as a “messaging hub” where issuers and private banks can find information on the prices and popularity of different structured products.

“Think of it as your WhatsApp or WeChat that you use for getting information from point A to point B. It is not the all-singing, all-dancing solution – that’s not what an MIP is about.”

In contrast, Anup Gupta, in charge of deritrade and financial products distribution in the Asia-Pacific region, said Vontobel’s platform was designed to provide not just product prices but also full life cycle management of each trade, as well as relevant documentation.

“We don’t just cover the pricing and trading aspects. We look at pre-trade, at-trade and post-trade activities as a complete MIP solution. That needs to be there in order [for an MIP] to make sense for both investment banks and private banks,” he said.

Gupta added that Vontobel’s all-encompassing platform could generate substantial efficiency savings by automating client booking and confirmation orders, and drive up sales thanks to its speed. Compared with the traditional way of achieving best execution – telephoning a variety of issuers and waiting for indicative prices to be passed back – an MIP accelerates the process by listing all the prices on its interface.

While Contineo’s Munoz agreed on the volume-boosting potential of MIPs, he argued that the real prize would be the data on pricing, structuring and sales that the platforms could offer users. “When you have an MIP that can deliver those kinds of analytics and show what is being traded in the market, feeding that data back to the private banks and investment banks all of a sudden gives them a whole new set of data to say, for example, ‘Oh, I’ve been focusing on the wrong area for the past months and I need to shift it based on what I see on the analytics side’.”

Pre- and post-trade services could also benefit from innovation, Munoz added, but outside the confines of an MIP as he defines it: not so much a bolt-on to private banks’ existing infrastructure as an intermediary between issuers and distributors. “With MIPs you can see trends, and those trends can be drilled down into product classification, and you end up being able to see the hit [sales] rates across different products in different banks,” he said.

Gupta’s definition of an MIP also raised questions from Jean-Marc Eber, founder and chief executive of Lexifi, a supplier of sales and distribution software for structured products providers. He said it was important for private banks using MIPs to maintain their own trading records, contract terms and post-trade management systems rather than outsource the responsibility to the platforms themselves.

“Centralising data in an MIP is going to be interesting for private banks, but they must be able to have full control over the contracts they are buying or selling and be able to reflect precisely the contract described on the MIP system in their own systems,” he said.

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Risk.net: Hong Kong House of the Year: HSBC

HSBC came out top in Hong Kong, its home market this year, winning plaudits from the region’s hard-to-impress private banks for its strong performance during a choppy July and its backing for the Contineo platform.[…]

The bank is also a vocal cheerleader of the Contineo initiative, an industry-supported multi-issuer platform for equity-linked structured products. Contineo went live on January 20 with the industry’s first open messaging network, designed to act as a high-speed conduit between issuers and their private banking and wealth management distributors. HSBC was one of the seven founding backers.

Pantone says: “Automation will allow the Asia structured product industry to grow and evolve and we expect Contineo to play a big role. Contineo has an experienced management team, best-in-class technology and the backing of the leading derivatives providers in the region. We are excited to be part of it.”

Read more at Risk.net.


Risk.net: Contineo plans Asia expansion

Mark Munoz, managing director of Contineo, discusses the multi-issuer platform’s future move into Europe and its aggressive expansion plans in Asia.

The competitive atmosphere in Asia’s structured products market has ramped up after the June launch of multi-issuer platform (MIP) Contineo. Managing director, Mark Munoz, says the platform – backed by six big investment banks – has the drive to attain a dominant position, as it squares up against established players such as Vontobel and FinIQ.

Read more at Risk.net


Structured Retail Products: Contineo eyes Europe for next stage of development

In the second part of an interview with Marc Muñoz, chief executive of Contineo, he explains the firm’s plans and scalability on the back of new networking security requirements for banks. The multi-issuer structured products platform and messaging network went live at the end of June.Some of the banks in the consortium backing Contineo are fierce competitors in other markets. How do you square this?
That’s how the market works and different players have different interests and issues to address in specific markets. We have just gone live and we are still building the platform, but we are confident and have the capital to eventually launch in Europe. We have already had interest from a number of issuers active in Europe. We want to build a robust service in the Asia-Pacific region and leverage our capabilities to grow organically, while also seeking opportunities and partners.

Competition is healthy and good for the market and investors, and it serves the sell- and buy-side, particularly the latter, which can benefit from a model that will significantly reduce operational costs. Competition is driven by the demand for access and transparency as well as better information. In that sense, Contineo is well positioned and has a distinct advantage. We are not burdened by any legacy systems or ‘single-to-single’ or ‘point-to-point’ connections; and we are not an issuer, so we don’t have any bias around where we direct our network. Our focus is around providing connectivity and access to data.

Who will come out as winners in multi-dealer platforms? What do you need to offer to make Contineo a preferred partner?
Our approach to standards and data will be a game changer over the next year. Connectivity is very important to get a critical mass of products and transactions, but we see even more value in providing information to the banks on a number of different levels (such as operational or compliance).

What’s next?
Our focus for the next three to six months is on-boarding private banks and new issuers and our pipeline is full. What we offer is different from other platforms. Contineo has been built on a $1m+ infrastructure and had to go through the IT and compliance departments of six different investment banks as well as multiple private banks, which gives an idea of our scale compared with others. If you can manage and address the significant networking security requirements banks have that puts us in a very good place for expansion.

Contineo is backed by foreign banks operating in the Asia Pacific. Is that an issue in any way? Is it important to have some sort of a local profile to be successful in the region?
What is important for us is the liquidity that passes through the network as well as the balance sheets of our backers. That’s what makes Contineo attractive to the buy-side, and sets it apart. Our strength is in our capital and the commitment and obligation we have from our subscribers.

What other factors make you an appealing partner? What’s your forecast for the next few months and next year?
The focus is to deliver for private banks, and the key is not only about providing access but about providing a good service. We are not interested in adding bells and whistles but about providing a solid infrastructure to add value to our users. Our platform cannot be built overnight and needs careful planning. This is not a standard start-up as it is backed by six banks and is on-boarding a number of private banks. This is important as the kind of investment to set up this platform is not something that banks would take lightly. Contineo is future-proof and has the commitment of a consortium that has signed multi-year contracts which is something that other platforms don’t have. We are the best capitalised of all the platforms, we are building an extensive pool of users, and we have the right infrastructure and set-up to respond to any challenges the market throws at us.

Do you think multi-issuer platforms will eventually replace the reverse inquiry model?
We are already seeing that trend. It might not replace that model completely but we are already getting requests for big tickets, and it’s something we would be able to accommodate. Conversations and requests over the phone will always be there, but we see multi-issuer platforms taking a chunk of that pot as the efficiency of the process will outweigh any issues related to the size of the transaction. The use of technology also allows us to add new features to speed up communication, and this will benefit the sell and the buy-sides equally and will streamline the bringing products to the market.

What developments should we expect at a product level?
We are working very closely with our partner banks to introduce new asset classes in a standardised way. Demand for foreign exchange products is high in the region and we can provide added value around those products. We will continue to respond to demand and build the platform by addressing the needs of our clients.

Contineo launched in January 29, 2015 as the industry’s first open messaging network to provide private banking and wealth management firms with greater access to equity-linked structured products. The platform has backing from a consortium comprising technology firm AG Delta and six investment banks – Barclays, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan and Societe Generale.


Asian Investor: Weekly Roundup of People News, Contineo Creates New Role for Data Scientist

Manulife’s fund selector resigns; Credit Suisse appoints China research head; Blackstones finds new China chairman; Contineo creates new role for data scientistRead more at AsianInvestor


Automated Trader: Contineo Appoints Data Scientist

Hong Kong – Contineo, the messaging network for equity-linked structured products, has announced the appointment of Ada Tong as data scientist.CEO Mark Munoz said Ms Tong would be leading Contineo’s development of new data streams and products based on the information generated by the increasing volume on the platform.

“This will be the very first time anyone has been able to quantify the landscape for equity structured products,” he said. “It’s been referred to for years as the ‘black hole’ of financial products. This week, that all changes.”


Head Of Trading: Contineo Hires Data Scientist To Illuminate The “Black Hole Of Data”

Contineo, the industry-backed messaging network for equity-linked structured products, today announced the appointment of Ada Tong as Data Scientist.CEO Mark Munoz said Ms Tong would be leading Contineo’s development of new data streams and products based on the information generated by the increasing volume on the platform.

“This will be the very first time anyone has been able to quantify the landscape for equity structured products,” he said. “It’s been referred to for years as the ‘black hole’ of financial products. This week, that all changes.”

Read more at HeadOfTrading


Mondo Visione: Contineo Hires Data Scientist To Illuminate The “Black Hole Of Data"

Contineo, the industry-backed messaging network for equity-linked structured products, today announced the appointment of Ada Tong as Data Scientist.CEO Mark Munoz said Ms Tong would be leading Contineo’s development of new data streams and products based on the information generated by the increasing volume on the platform.

“This will be the very first time anyone has been able to quantify the landscape for equity structured products,” he said. “It’s been referred to for years as the `black hole’ of financial products. This week, that all changes.”

Read more at MondoVisione