LexisNexis Interface Software announced today that the London-based investment bank and securities firm, Bridgewell, has selected InterAction as the firm's CRM solution of choice.
"We needed a CRM solution that would help us share important relationship information among our investment professionals, manage our regulatory disclosure obligations and at the same time respect our Chinese wall restrictions," said Tony Kyte, Bridgewell's head of IT.
The firm looked at a number of different CRM solutions including Microsoft CRM, but found InterAction's data management capabilities, superior integration with Microsoft Outlook and ability to track and manage complex relationships, compelling. "InterAction's robust security model and powerful relationship intelligence capabilities are ideally suited for our needs, said Kyte."
Bridgewell is a specialist UK mid-cap investment banking group, incorporating a research led securities house and a corporate advisory group. Previously the firm was using a bespoke database and Microsoft Exchange to manage its list and communications needs. "Our primary research analysts would send out four to five communications daily, which had to be done before we could talk to our salespeople about issues that could affect stock price," said Kyte. "Doing so with our old system was inefficient and created excessive overhead. InterAction provides great flexibility out of the box to help us manage our communications needs."
Moreover, in the corporate advisory side of the business, the ability to share client relationship information is critical. "As a relationship-driven business, we wanted the ability to share relationship intelligence firm wide," said Kyte. "InterAction stands out in providing this level of functionality."
Importantly, the decision to go with InterAction also hinged upon the system's ability to maintain legally and regulatory mandated Chinese walls separating the advisory and securities sides of Bridgewell's business. For example, on one side of its business, investment professionals may be working on a merger or acquisition of a company, and on the other side people may be selling stocks and shares of that same company. "Regulation requires the corporate advisory and research sides of our business to remain separate," explained Kyte. "This creates a difficult environment in which to implement CRM unless you have a solution like InterAction, which has a security model specifically geared towards this industry."
"Investment banks need confidence that their CRM solution can not only support their centralised communications and relationship networking needs, but also regulatory requirements that place strict restrictions on who can access this information," said Barry Solomon, Interface Software's executive vice president. "InterAction has carved out a strong following in the investment banking community and we are delighted that Bridgewell will be leveraging the system's strengths to support its communications and sales initiatives."