Investment Book of Record (IBOR)

What are people actually talking about when they talk about "IBOR"? Investment managers, vendors, consultants, and the press are far from aligned on what it means, and this is causing a great deal of confusion in the industry, because when buy-side firms ask consultants and vendors to help them solve their IBOR needs, those consultants and vendors can end up answering a different question from what is being asked.

The need for IBOR is driven by several things, and depending on what is driving your firm to consider an IBOR, you may end up with vastly different solutions, any of which could be called an IBOR. At a high level, the drivers are:

  • Enterprise drivers, such as enterprise-wide risk reporting and compliance;
  • Portfolio management drivers, such as the need for strategy-specific views or rearrangement of portfolio data; and
  • Control and flexibility drivers, such as the need to oversee an outsourcing relationship or retain the option to swap providers.

Click here for a summary of Barry's remarks to the Waters IBOR Breakfast Briefing on February 4, 2014

Further reading

Barry is an acknowledged expert on IBOR and can help you navigate the tricky waters surrounding the topic. Before you embark or continue on a path to implement a solution to the wrong problem, speak with him.