FactSet acquires portfolio monitoring solutions for private markets

Rick Steves

The platform features personalized dashboards, advanced analytics, and on-demand reporting capabilities that help general partner clients transform data into actionable insights, address complex limited partner demands, and competitively position their firms to understand what drives fund performance.

FactSet has acquired Cobalt Software, a portfolio monitoring solutions provider for the private capital industry, to advance its strategy to scale data and workflow solutions and expand its private markets offering.

Cobalt Software should not be confused with Cobalt DL, the London-headquartered technology firm for the FX and digital asset market infrastructure.

Cobalt Software was founded in Boston in 2011 and has developed a portfolio monitoring platform that enables private capital firms to efficiently collect, analyze, and report on fund and portfolio company performance metrics and KPIs.

The platform features personalized dashboards, advanced analytics, and on-demand reporting capabilities that help general partner clients transform data into actionable insights, address complex limited partner demands, and competitively position their firms to understand what drives fund performance.

Goran Skoko, Executive Vice President, Research & Advisory Solutions, FactSet, said: “We see tremendous opportunity in private markets, and Cobalt’s leading capabilities across portfolio monitoring, cash flow analytics, and benchmarking analysis offer great value to a wide range of private capital investment firms.

“There is a growing need for a complete workflow solution for general partners that connects differentiated data with sophisticated tracking and portfolio reporting. Integrating Cobalt’s offering into FactSet allows us to meet that need while adding proprietary fund performance content to our private markets data universe.”

Jason Weinstein, CEO, Cobalt, commented: “FactSet and Cobalt share an unparalleled commitment to public service and we are delighted to be joining forces. There is a large and growing opportunity to offer integrated workflow, data, and analytics to the PE/VC industry. By combining our capabilities, we will be optimally positioned to capitalize on the increasing demand for these solutions and deliver even more value to clients.”

FactSet has recently integrated OneConnect’s AI-powered ESG content sets into its workstations, standard data feed, and APIs to make available ESG metrics for over 3,500 Chinese class A-share companies.

The increased focus on the ESG theme by the political sphere and the media has recently pushed the trading industry into adopting measures that facilitate the investment in companies more prone to preserve the environment and in line with societal values.

OneConnect has gathered extensive information regarding companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, with comprehensive coverage of ESG factors, derived from a combination of different sources of information obtained by AI technologies.

FactSet will integrate OneConnect’s analytics tools and content, including NLP-driven disclosure transparency assessments, portfolio sustainability performance evaluation and adjustment, and a climate risk evaluation tool.

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