JHC PLC - Systems and Outsourcing for the Securities Industry | News and Events

JHC and Cofunds Announce a Fully Automated Interface

JHC is pleased to announce a major development to its market leading product FIGARO to enable fully automated straight through processing (STP) to Cofunds, the leading funds custodian. This replaces an earlier file transfer version currently used by some FIGARO users.  The new interface provides a transmission and translation service for Cofunds Trade Input and Output messages, in a secure format. This interface is currently in the process of being deployed in a number of FIGARO sites.

JHC is continually investing in the development and enhancement of FIGARO to provide new and improved functionality and performance.  FIGARO is a truly market-leading solution, which allows our clients to remain competitive in their market and protect their investment in technology.  The automated interface with Cofunds further enhances the FIGARO offering, and provides time and cost savings for clients in the handling of funds transactions within their client portfolios.  FIGARO is a fully integrated STP solution and is unrivalled in its depth and richness of functionality and process automation.  Leading stock broking and wealth management firms deploy FIGARO as their core integrated front to back solution for equity and funds trading.

Peter Murphy, Head of Figaro Product Development says: “The ability to be able to offer direct messaging links to Cofunds is great news to our clients as it gives them immediate access to an extensive range of funds available in the UK, as well as saving our clients time and money.  We are also pleased to support our clients who have introduced automated portfolio management, to create rebalancing with straight through processing for both equity and funds trading”

Matthew Ferman, Head of Institutional Product Development at Cofunds said: “A large number of our existing and prospective client base use the Figaro system, which is why we’ve identified this as a key strategic partnership to offer straight through processing. We’ve developed seamless data integration, providing Figaro users with an ‘out of the box’ solution to their fund administration problems.

JHC Newcastle Move into New Offices to Meet Expansion Plans

JHC has opened a new office in the prestigious St. Nicholas Building in the centre of Newcastle, with capacity for more than 50 staff.  The new premises are a result of an overall growth in staff at JHC because of increased new business in major Wealth Management clients.  This will lead to JHC expanding by over 25% over the next two years.  The new office opened its doors on the 19th December and will form a key part of the development capacity of the company.

The JHC Product Director and Managing Partner for Newcastle, Peter Murphy said, “JHC has had a presence in the North East since 1998 and we are pleased to be able to make Newcastle a key focus of our expansion plans. This move shows our commitment to the area and the quality of the available workforce.  This is a substantial number of positions being created by a well-respected international software company, whose solutions are used by over 30 clients.”

Figaro Enhances Communications Protocol

Last Autumn JHC embarked on a project to change the way our existing client/server applications communicated with the IBM iSeries.

At the time our Delphi and Java applications used IBM’s Advanced Program to Program Communication (APPC) protocol and accessed this using Microsoft’s Host Integration server (HIS).

With support for APPC being uncertain in the future, coupled with issues with HIS itself, a project was inaugurated to completely remove APPC and HIS from JHC’s architecture.

Ian Haines, Chief Technical Officer for JHC says “By making use of IBM’s new RPG Open Access technology we have ensured that we have not only a more robust and efficient product, but one that will be supported for some time to come. RPG Open Access allows us to develop programs to communicate directly to our Stream Servers over TCP/IP. Using Open Access has the big advantage that we will not need to rewrite our existing RPG programs thus reducing any risks associated with it.”

Peak Performance

JHC would like to wish Andrew Butcher, Chief Operating Officer, Charles Stanley, good luck on his sponsored climb to the Base Camp of Everest and onward to the peak of Kala Pattar. JHC are pleased to be one of his sponsors for The Wooden Spoon charity, for which he is undertaking this ambitious feat. If you would like to sponsor Andrew you can do so via his Just Giving page.

For more particulars of the challenge Andrew will be undertaking and full details of the cause he is doing it all for, please visit his page on the Charles Stanley website by clicking here.

Figaro and FATCA

JHC will be hosting an event for their clients interested in the forthcoming FATCA legislation and the possible impact on Figaro on 19th October 2011 in the More London office. Please contact your JHC Client Manager if you are interested in this event.

Figaro Strategic User Group – Autumn Meeting Notice

The next Figaro SUG will be held in the London office at 10:00 am on the 20th October 2011. Attendance is by invitation only and regular invitees will be notified of the full agenda nearer the date.

Continued Success and Recognition for Figaro

At the prestigious Systems in the City 2011 event in front of Stockbrokers, Fund Managers and Investment Bankers at the Royal College of Surgeons, Stephen Pinner, the Managing Director of Goodacre UK, announced this year’s winners of the Systems in the City Awards.

JHC’s Figaro was nominated in several categories and was the winner of the “Best Retail Settlement System” award for a third consecutive year.

John Blackman, Managing Director of JHC said:

“To be nominated in so many categories and for Figaro to be so successful is testament to the comprehensive nature of our product and the high regard in which it is held.”

Commenting on the Awards, Stephen Pinner, Managing Director of Goodacre said:

“The importance of these Awards has increased significantly over the past few years. System providers to City firms only seem to attract attention when things go wrong. Without them however, business would grind to a halt. All investment companies now are absolutely dependent on technology. The role that system providers play should not be under estimated and these Awards highlight companies and individuals exceptional performance during the past year.

The nominated firms for the Awards have put in a great deal of work to meet the requirements of a very demanding customer base. All nominees are to be congratulated in reaching the GoodAccredited standard. The Award winners themselves have done exceptionally well for the judges to recognise the outstanding performance of their products and services.”

JHC London Move Office

On May 16th 2011 the JHC London office moved to the prestigious 3 More London development by Tower Bridge on the south bank of the Thames. The new premises afford JHC the opportunity to accommodate their proposed increase in staff numbers for the foreseeable future.

Managing Director, John Blackman says “We had to change location to enable us to implement our growth plans for the future. The fact that we have been able to move to such a prestigious development so close to where we were before is a bonus as we enjoy the location and our staff will not have to make drastic changes getting to and from work”.

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JHC Sponsor Wealth Management Award

At the 12th annual PAM (Private Asset Managers) Awards ceremony, held at the Dorchester Hotel, JHC were pleased to sponsor the award for Client Service Quality, High Net Worth. Read More»

JHC Awarded Industry Accreditation

JHC are amongst the first suppliers to be granted the “GoodAccreditation” standard. This standard is being allocated to supplier firms who deliver services or systems to the regulated financial markets, to an acceptable standard as determined by their customers.

Stephen Pinner, Managing Director, Goodacre UK commented “We have received over 75 applications from companies keen to have their products considered for accreditation this year. We are delighted that this new standard is sought after as it will provide an easy way to identify those services valued by clients.”

John Blackman, Managing Director, JHC said “To be one of the first firms to receive this accreditation is further proof that FIGARO meets the high levels of expectancy required by our customers.  We believe that the GoodAccreditation standard is an integral standard that all suppliers in our area will want to attain and it’s pleasing to be amongst the first recipients