Benchmark Solutions Launches Independent, Streaming Real-Time Pre-Trade Pricing Data to the Fixed Income and Derivatives Markets

NEW YORK, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jim Toffey, the founder of Tradeweb, the first multi-dealer online marketplace for U.S. Treasuries and one of the world's leading providers of online markets, today announced the launch of Benchmark Solutions, the first and only provider of fully independent, streaming, real-time, market-driven prices for fixed income and derivatives markets.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110719/NY36852LOGO )

Backed by Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm, Benchmark Solutions is focused on addressing fundamental shortcomings in price transparency and independence in the OTC fixed income and derivatives markets.

"After the 2008 credit crisis, there was a clear need for greater transparency in the OTC markets," said Jim Toffey, Benchmark Solutions Founder and Chief Executive Officer.  "We brought together key industry experts in finance and technology to develop a system that synthesizes millions of market observations daily and creates market-driven prices which are updated and available to our clients every 10 seconds.  For the first time, investors and investment professionals will have real-time access to pre-trade pricing intelligence to help them make better trade decisions, understand the true market value of their assets, and manage risk more effectively. This is a necessary progression for the fixed income markets and investors can now access the same level of price transparency as they do currently in the equity markets."  

Targeted at front office professionals such as traders, portfolio and risk managers at hedge funds, asset management companies, and regional dealers, Benchmark's flagship offering, the BMark(SM) Real-Time solution, provides continuous real-time pricing data for fixed income and derivatives products, starting with corporate bonds and credit default swaps, with ongoing expansion slated across other OTC asset classes.

Using its patent-pending Market Calibrated Framework(SM) technology, the BMark Real-Time solution analyzes over 12 million market inputs to price 550 CDS curves across six distinct tenors, as well as 7,000 corresponding US corporate bonds. This proprietary technology generates 118 million market-derived prices each trading day with updates every 10 seconds. Designed to integrate with and enhance clients' daily workflows, the real-time data is deliverable via the web or data feed and includes a comprehensive real-time overview of credit market activity.

"We are delighted to have the opportunity to invest behind Jim, a talented and proven CEO, who joined us back in October 2008 as an entrepreneur-in-residence," commented Warburg Pincus Managing Director, Cary Davis. "In today's evolving market, customers still rely on dealers for indicative market data, but none of the current offerings provide continuous pricing. This presents an interesting opportunity, and Jim, along with his team of market intelligence experts and technology innovators are particularly well suited to address that need."

For more information or a trial invitation, visit www.benchmarksolutions.com

About Benchmark Solutions

Benchmark Solutions provides the fixed income and derivatives markets with comprehensive pricing transparency and analytic solutions. Benchmark's flagship pre-trade transparency solution provides the industry's only streaming, market-driven pricing for US corporate bonds and CDS (with ongoing expansion across other OTC asset classes). Based on a patent-pending market calibrated approach, the BMark(SM) suite of solutions also includes evaluated pricing services, historical pricing and the BQuotes(SM) advanced quote discovery tool.

The firm seeks to empower investment decisions and enhance their clients' daily workflows, helping them understand the true market value of assets, discover previously unseen buy/sell opportunities, and proactively manage risk in real-time.

Benchmark Solutions is a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus, founded in the wake of the credit crisis in September 2009 to address fundamental shortcomings in price transparency and independence in the fixed income and derivatives markets. Led by CEO, Jim Toffey (Founder and CEO of Tradeweb) and industry experts in finance and technology, Benchmark employs over 65 professionals and is headquartered in New York.

For more information, please visit www.benchmarksolutions.com

Warburg Pincus

Warburg Pincus is a leading global private equity firm.  The firm has more than $30 billion in assets under management.  Its active portfolio of more than 125 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector and geography.  Warburg Pincus is a growth investor and an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value.

Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 13 private equity funds which have invested more than $35 billion in over 650 companies in more than 30 countries.

Since inception, the firm has invested more than $13.5 billion in technology, media and telecommunications including investments in BEA Systems, BhartiAirtel, Covad Communications Group, FIS, Institutional Shareholder Services, iParadigms Holdings LLC, MLM Information Services LLC, NeuStar, Nuance  RDA Microelectronics Inc, UGS Capital Corp., VERITAS Software, Wall Street Systems and Ziggo.  

The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Mumbai, San Francisco, Sao Paulo and Shanghai.  For more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com.

SOURCE Benchmark Solutions