FIS
Tim Smith
19 January 2016
With everything the new FIS has to offer, there is a huge opportunity for current and prospective SunGard clients, according to Tim Smith
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How does SunGard and Astec Analytics fit into FIS? Is there any overlap in its existing business structure?
In fact, there is very little overlap in the two original businesses and there is much complementary technology. Though there is likely to be some reorganisation of certain business units, the majority of legacy SunGard businesses will be grouped together and be led by Marianne Brown.
How has the acquisition been taken from the SunGard point of view?
Given the context that it was a purchase by FIS, it has been viewed as an excellent opportunity for both sides of the business including retail and payments and wholesale and institutional. Now that the deal officially closed on 30 November, we are getting on with the job in hand.
How does the acquisition affect your budget and plans for the year?
We are focused on creating budgets and deploying resources in the most effective manner possible. Our team has been working with executive management and our marketing team to develop appropriate investment targets. FIS has a stated goal of reinvestment of 5 to 6 percent. We certainly hope to maintain or grow that investment where possible.
Is there any concern that you will now be expected to re-pitch your projects to new senior management figures, who may not have the same level of understanding of the products as you?
The majority of legacy SunGard divisions have been put in under the leadership of Marianne Brown. Marianne joined SunGard in 2014 and has been instrumental in the growth and management of the business. She will continue in this role now as part of the FIS executive leadership team.
What new innovations can the industry expect from you in the coming year?
We held a number of client forums around the world in Q4 2015 to test our ideas for innovative solutions against those who would be using them. From these meetings we received several good leads on areas that could be developed.
The introduction of intra-day reporting in the North American market in 2011 to 2012 was a major change in the market. Expanding to the global market means that it’s an area ripe for development for our data analytics solutions.
We will be looking to expand our North American intra-day data service to the global market as well as provide more analytics of that data across the board.
There will also be a big push in the development of our reporting services, which traditionally serviced the beneficial owner space. We are now building a much wider spectrum of reporting across the whole securities financing industry.
As well as the new solutions being launched, we will also be working on new ways for our clients to slice and dice the data they receive and the ways it’s delivered.
How is SunGard looking to prove its value to FIS?
Within the immediate Astec Analytics business, we have been able to present Gary Norcross, president and CEO of FIS, with a detailed analysis of short selling trends within FIS stock. As this information can be important to senior management regarding share price and investor sentiment, we were fortunate to bring this kind of immediate value to FIS and have the data available to prove it.
SunGard is usually the acquirer of companies, not the acquired. Does it feel strange to go by a different branding?
The combination of SunGard and FIS under the single brand of FIS is a huge opportunity for the company and our various solution sets. Though we are no longer SunGard, the new brand will only strengthen, over time, our commitment to the entire financial technology space.
Given the size of FIS, are there many opportunities for new synergies between other businesses within the group?
With everything the new FIS has to offer, there is a huge opportunity.
We have only been fully merged for a month and there are already opportunities presenting themselves. For example, we’re discussing the potential of working with Capco on the need for consultancy on securities finance. We can now be brought into that discussion.
There may also be cross-selling capabilities with the banks and broker-dealers.
As a division within FIS, we will be open to many more points of contact between different service providers, which will mean we can offer value to other existing FIS divisions, as much as they can to us.
Further, we will be able to offer much greater value to our existing clients through these new connections at a time when the whole financial industry is moving away from silo-style services and toward a more open, connected way of doing business.
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