1) Customer Insight: RMI Division of FCStone LLC
Situation
At-a-Glance
About INTL FCStone Inc.
INTL
ƒƒ FCStone Inc. is a Fortune
500 financial services firm
specializing in commodity trading
in addition to foreign currency
exchange and treasury services,
securities execution and asset
management
Challenge
Provide the depth of market
ƒƒ
access and data export
capabilities required to support
RMI’s research and proprietary
risk management programs
Solution
Utilize the data and functionality
ƒƒ
of FutureSource, Interactive
Data’s professional decisionsupport desktop solution
Benefits
From
ƒƒ one easy-to-use platform,
RMI can export data and capture
images needed to populate its
research reports and help power
its risk management programs
Risk Management Incorporated provides risk management
services and products to mitigate price and credit risk for
energy buyers specializing in natural gas. It became a wholly
owned subsidiary of INTL FCStone Inc. in 2010 and was later
merged into FCStone LLC, currently functioning as the RMI
Division of FCStone LLC (RMI).
In the last 20 years, RMI has facilitated the development and
execution of over 80 risk management programs on behalf of
utility and corporate customers, and executes approximately
$16 billion in energy contracts for its clients each year. RMI
needed a fast and reliable real-time market data provider to
supply the data it requires.
The selection of Interactive Data was based on the following primary
business drivers:
Depth of market coverage
RMI's customer base is composed of investor-owned utilities, municipal
systems, cooperatives and energy-intensive industrial and commercial
companies. The majority of these customers subscribe to a combination
of the company’s services, including consulting, brokerage, and/or
risk tracking software. RMI was looking for a data provider to support
services ranging from market guidance to the implementation of
complete risk management systems.
Data export capability
RMI has created a wide range of proprietary systems that are powered
by real-time market data. The company needed a market information
provider with highly developed and easy-to-use data export and Excel
capabilities.
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2) Customer Insight: RMI Division of FCStone LLC
“
If one of our customers —
for example a regulated
utility — asks us what
type of information service
they need, we recommend
FutureSource.
”
Dan Conrath
Senior Vice President
RMI Division of FCStone LLC
Solution
RMI selected FutureSource, Interactive Data’s professional
decision-support desktop solution. The system provides RMI
with the following advantages:
Data export capabilities
RMI designs customized, quantifiable hedging strategies to meet its
customers' needs, which include historical valuation and predetermined
time parameters, and which use fixed price contracts, caps, floors and
collars. The ability to export data from FutureSource provides RMI with
the underlying market data on which several of these strategies are
based.
Depth of market access and range of data
RMI offers extensive fundamental and technical analysis through its
daily, weekly and monthly energy reports, importing images from
the FutureSource platform into these reports. In the energy markets,
FutureSource provides real-time access to NYMEX and ICE Futures data,
including ICE Implied Bids and Offers, as well as third-party content,
including Dow Jones Energy News, Platts and SNL Energy. In addition,
weather maps from WSI and important storage statistics from the EIA
and API are also available.
User-friendly platform with advanced charting capability
FutureSource’s functionality includes advanced charting with access
to more than 60 technical studies and is designed to support custom
spreads, strips and overlays, as well as to provide seasonal and forward
curve charts. “We use the technical analysis techniques available on
FutureSource as one of our analytical tools,” says Dan Conrath, Senior
Vice President, RMI Division of FCStone LLC. “We take that information
and build it into our own analysis.”
System development to accommodate changing
business needs
RMI values the advantages that a long-term customer relationship can
bring, based on Interactive Data’s knowledge of the company’s needs.
“I’m very comfortable with the product and have used it for a long time,”
says Mr. Conrath. “The service has been upgraded over time. In the
beginning those upgrades were driven more by us as the customer, but
over the last five years Interactive Data has come to us with new versions.”
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3) Customer Insight: RMI Division of FCStone LLC
Detailed customer service support
“We seldom have a problem,” says Mr. Conrath. “But any time we have a
question the issue is resolved very quickly.”
Benefits
FutureSource is an ideal solution because it delivers fast and reliable
real-time market data and decision support software. With FutureSource,
RMI’s analysts have access to the full range of data and tools needed
to support their proprietary risk management systems and research
reports.
ABOUT INTERACTIVE DATA
Interactive Data Corporation is a trusted leader in financial information. Thousands of financial
institutions and active traders, as well as hundreds of software and service providers, subscribe
to our fixed income evaluations, reference data, real-time market data, trading infrastructure
services, fixed income analytics, desktop solutions and web-based solutions. Interactive Data’s
offerings support clients around the world with mission-critical functions, including portfolio
valuation, regulatory compliance, risk management, electronic trading and wealth management.
Interactive Data has over 2,500 employees in offices worldwide.
LIMITATIONS
This document is provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in this
document is subject to change without notice and does not constitute any form of warranty,
representation, or undertaking. Nothing herein should in any way be deemed to alter the legal
rights and obligations contained in agreements between Interactive Data and its affiliates
(collectively, “Interactive Data”) and their clients relating to any of the products or services
described herein.
Interactive Data makes no warranties whatsoever, either express or implied, as to
merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or any other matter. Without limiting the
foregoing, Interactive Data makes no representation or warranty that any data or information
supplied to or by it are complete or free from errors, omissions, or defects.
Interactive Data and the Interactive Data logo are service marks of Interactive Data Corporation.
FutureSource is a registered service mark of Interactive Data Corporation. Other products,
services, or company names mentioned herein are the property of, and may be the service mark
or trademark of, their respective owners.
© 2014 Interactive Data
Interactive Data (Europe) Ltd, a company regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority.
Interactive Data is a service of Interactive Data (Australia) Pty Ltd provided under AFSL Licence
No. 234689.
033114
Contact us for more information:
212-771-6565
info@interactivedata.com
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