2012/2013 Portfolio Management SystemsCompany Profiles |
2012/2013 Trade Order ManagementCompany Profiles |
Eagle Investments Eagle Investment Systems enables financial Institutions to grow their assets by creating operational efficiencies and delivering awardwinning solutions for data management, investment accounting, and performance measurement and attribution, supported by an unparalleled level of service. Eagle deploys its solutions via a secure private cloud, Eagle ACCESSSM, which hosts and provides on-going support of the applications and systems infrastructure, reducing complexity and risk. Eagle Investment Systems LLC is a subsidiary of BNY Mellon. Additional information is available at www.eagleinvsys.com. 45 William Street, Suite 200 Wellesley, MA 02481 781 943 2200 www.eagleinvsys.com Contact: Robert Leaper, Head of Global Sales & Marketing sales@eagleinvsys.com Princeton financial Systems Princeton Financial Systems, a State Street company, is a leading provider of investment accounting, investment compliance, data management, performance measurement, and reporting solutions to the global investment industry. Our solutions are used worldwide by over 430 leading investment managers, custodians, insurance companies, pension funds, hedge funds, and banks in more than 40 countries. Seven of the world’s biggest global custodians monitor investment compliance with MIG21 powered by its LawCards suite of rule libraries for global compliance. The PAM family of systems support the accounting needs of over 370 institutional investors relying on PAM’s unmatched depth in accounting capabilities as well as its fl exibility to support a wide variety of instrument types and adapt to changing accounting and regulatory requirements. MIG21, our investment compliance and risk monitoring solution, optimizes and automates pre-trade and post-trade compliance checking, the administration of regulatory, prospectus, and internal investment guidelines along with the consequent resolution workfl ows. LawCards, an add-on service to MIG21, are predefi ned rule libraries offering clients the content expertise of all major jurisdictions including the SEC Investment Company Act of 1940, Singapore and Hong Kong investment law, UCITS IV and non-UCITS, Sharia compliance, and even substantial shareholding reporting. Accompanied by our Compliance newsfeed LawCards provide expert guidance in creating and maintaining a compliance framework which meets all regulatory requirements. DVS Fund Warehouse is Princeton Financial Systems’ platform for data management, reporting, and analysis purpose-built for the investment industry. DVS Publisher Suite automates reporting processes for factsheet production, client and regulatory reporting as well as statutory reporting. Princeton Financial Systems, headquartered in Princeton, NJ, has offi ces located throughout the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Singapore. For more information, visit our website at www.pfs.com. 600 College Road East Princeton, N.J. 08540 www.pfs.com Contact: Steve Chance, 609-987-2400, info@pfs.com INDATA INDATA® is a leading industry provider of software and services for buy-side firms, including trade order management (OMS), compliance, portfolio accounting and front-to-back office. INDATA’s iPM - Intelligent Portfolio Management® technology platform allows end users to efficiently collaborate in real-time across the enterprise and contains the best of class functionality demanded by sophisticated institutional investors. The company’s mission is to provide clients with cutting edge technology products and services to increase operational efficiency while reducing risk and administrative overhead. INDATA provides software and services to a variety of buy-side clients including asset managers, registered investment advisors, banks and wealth management firms, pension funds and hedge funds. Assets under management range from approximately $25 Million to over $80 Billion across a variety of asset classes (i.e. equity, fixed income, etc.) both domestic and international. What these organizations have in common is a desire for the latest technology - not only for today but for tomorrow. What sets INDATA apart is its single-minded focus on increasing operational efficiency as part of the technology equation. 115 E. Putnam Avenue, 2nd Floor Greenwich, CT 06830 www.indataweb.com Contact: Sylvia Morgan, Marketing Communications Manager 888-454-4060 info@indataweb.com SS&C PORTIA SS&C PORTIA provides a complete middle-to-back offi ce solution that allows investment managers to track and manage the day-to-day activity in investment portfolios and funds. Offered on a deployed and hosted basis, PORTIA solutions support a broad range of functions including corporate action processing, internal reporting, client reporting, regulatory reporting, performance measurement and attribution and post trade compliance. PORTIA is the choice of investment managers in over 40 countries who manage assets totaling more than US $10 trillion. In addition to offering world-class software solutions, SS&C PORTIA provides fl exible and customized business process outsourcing. PORTIA Outsourcing Services allow asset managers to outsource some or all of their middle-to-back offi ce and achieve operational excellence and scale as they grow and expand their business. PORTIA supplements its product offerings with global implementation services consulting expertise, as well as world-class support for its global client base. To achieve effi ciencies across the entire middle to-back office, start with a solution that’s reliable, secure and proven – PORTIA. Visit our website below to learn why the world’s largest asset managers prefer SS&C PORTIA solutions.
|
INDATA (2013)
INDATA® is a leading industry provider of software and services for buy-side firms, including trade order management (OMS), compliance, portfolio accounting and front-to-back office. INDATA's iPM - Intelligent Portfolio Management® technology platform allows end users to efficiently collaborate in real time across the enterprise and contains the best of class functionality demanded by sophisticated institutional investors. The company's mission is to provide clients with cutting-edge technology products and services to increase operational efficiency while reducing risk and administrative overhead.
INDATA provides software and services to a variety of buy-side clients, including asset managers, registered investment advisers, banks and wealth management firms, pension funds, and hedge funds. Assets under management range from just under $1 billion to more than $100 billion across a variety of asset classes (e.g., equity, fixed income, etc.), both domestic and international.
What these organizations have in common is a desire for the latest technology — not only for today but for tomorrow. What sets INDATA apart is its single-minded focus on increasing operational efficiency as part of the technology equation.
115 E. Putnam Avenue, 2nd Floor Greenwich, CT 06830 www.indataipm.com 888-454-4060 Sylvia Morgan, Marketing Communications Manager info@indataipm.com Executive Team
Advent Software (2012) The Most Widely Used Trade Order Management SystemWith more than 800 clients worldwide, Advent's Moxy(R) is the No. 1 trade order management system and sets the standard for streamlining trading workflow. Moxy's intuitive views of critical data expedite investment processes by providing a single, centralized location for order management decision making and execution. From portfolio construction through settlement, Moxy's powerful workflow advantages extend beyond the trading desk to the entire firm. Moxy offers enhanced functionality and architecture to meet the needs of the largest institutional and high-net-worth (HNW) asset managers. Moxy's industry-leading advantages include:Improved Trading Performance and Enhanced WorkflowMoxy's blotter customization gives traders access to real-time data on the trade screen and more capabilities to work the way they want, allowing them to focus on the market and their trades. Consolidated group trading provides streamlined portfolio and fund construction for groups of accounts. Commission management functionality enables better intraday broker commission targeting and reporting. Additionally Moxy supports trading and compositional restrictions to ensure compliance with the firm's investment strategies.Black Mountain Systems (2012)
Black Mountain Systems, founded in 2007, is an independent financial software development firm that has developed innovative solutions for institutional investment managers. Everest, Black Mountain Systems' award winning proprietary front office software solution, is tailored specifically to individual client needs. Everest delivers a superior trade order management and compliance system, credit analysis tools, easy-to-use portfolio management and reporting, and a data warehouse solution to institutional investors in syndicated loans, high yield and municipal bonds, derivatives and other alternative investments. With Black Mountain's partnership with Gamma Three Trading, Everest is also equipped with a powerful FIX engine, adding real-time integration with electronic trading execution platforms to its long list of capabilities. Most recently, Black Mountain unveiled Everest Mobile, allowing customers to manage and execute decisions by accessing Everest data, including credit related reports and attachments, from any modern mobile device. Black Mountain currently has 31 clients, consisting of many of the world's preeminent hedge funds, private equity firms, investment managers and banking firms, who manage approximately $500bn in assets on the Everest platform. Everest's services give analysts, traders and portfolio managers the workflow management and business intelligence tools necessary to quickly and efficiently navigate and analyze information critical to the investment process.
12520 High Bluff Drive, San Diego, CA 92130 www.blackmountainsystems.com Contact: Andy Horwitz, Co-CEO, 646-400-0715, ahorwitz@blackmountainsystems.com Executive Team
Bloomberg (2012)
Asset and Investment Manager (AIM)
For buy-side institutions, hedge funds, and proprietary trading desks, Bloomberg Asset and Investment Manager (AIM) delivers global, multi-asset solutions for front-end portfolio, trading and middle & back office operations. Bloomberg AIM offers an integrated suite of solutions including: decision support and portfolio management; pre-trade, post-execution, and end-of-day compliance; order management, electronic trading and execution; and post-trade matching settlement, reconciliation, portfolio accounting, performance measurement, and data aggregation and reporting. With AIM, you can manage your portfolio and risk, optimize your workflow, enhance compliance, and lower operational risk.
Corporate Headquarters 731 Lexington Avenue New York, New York 10022 www.bloomberg.com/aim Contact: Felicia Sussman, 212 617 3267, f.sussman@bloomberg.net Charles River Development (2012)
Charles River Development provides fully managed solutions including software, hosting and data services to automate front- and middle-office investment operations for buy-side firms. SaaS solutions and on-premises software support portfolio management, compliance and risk monitoring, order and execution management, access to global liquidity and post-trade processing. The company has more than 330 clients in over 40 countries in the institutional asset and fund management, alternative, wealth management, insurance, banking, pension and custody markets.
Corporate Headquarters 7 New England Executive Park Burlington MA 01803 + 1 781 238 0099 telephone + 1 781 238 0088 fax APAC: Beijing - +86 10 8520 0074/0075 Melbourne - + 613 8628 0100 Singapore - + 65 6435 8011 Tokyo - + 81 (0)3 3507 5783 London - + 44 (0)20 7397 6800 ConvergEx's Eze Castle (2012)
ConvergEx's Eze Castle Software has been a leading provider of global technology solutions that automate the investment process since 1995. The Eze OMSTM, a global, multi-strategy order management system, leverages a real-time, service-component architecture to streamline the investment cycle for all asset classes - from idea generation through settlement.With offices in Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Stamford, and Sydney, Eze provides over 400 clients with a global support model and a personalized, partnership approach towards client service. The Eze OMS provides functionality to support: Portfolio Management, Compliance, Trading, and Operations.
12 Farnsworth Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02210 646-346-1140 sales@ezecastlesoftware.com www.convergex.com A.J. De Rosa, Managing Director, Co-Head of Global Sales Michael Hutner, Managing Director, Co-Head of Global Sales Executive TeamSunGard (2012)
SunGard's Valdi is a suite of electronic trading solutions for equities and listed derivatives. Valdi offers fully automated or high touch order management, trade execution and liquidity management; pre- and post-trade risk and compliance; and market data. With a suite of hosted services and connectivity to the SunGard Global Network (SGN), Valdi helps customers cost-effectively execute trades across multiple platforms, instruments and geographies. For more information, please visit www.sungard.com/360trading.
Corporate Headquarters 680 East Swedesford Road Wayne, PA 19087 USA 800-825-2518 getinfo@sungard.com |
Advanced Trading's Thought Leaders
Philippe Buhannic, CEO and co-founder of TradingScreenPhilippe Buhannic, CEO and co-founder of TradingScreen, is an industry pioneer. Buhannic has stayed on the forefront of global markets and financial technology for more than 30 years, in a career that has spanned executive management, technical, and marketing experience in international markets. Buhannic founded TradingScreen with Joseph Ahearn in 1999, working to connect global sell-side participants and leading regional brokers to a common environment. TradingScreen was ahead of the curve from day one - delivering market access, and order and liquidity management to the buy side - anticipating the shift away from paper-based trading towards digital markets. Today, TradingScreen is not only the world's leading execution management system (EMS), it is also the leading independent provider of liquidity, trading and investment technology via Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to the financial community. Prior to TradingScreen, Buhannic served as a Managing Director at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) in New York. While at CSFB, he worked in fixed income where he handled listed derivatives, prime brokerage and e-commerce. Buhannic was also responsible for creating and implementing CFSB's e-commerce products, including the "Prime Family" comprised of PrimeTrade, PrimeClear, Prime Brokerage and PrimeFund; all of which have received industry accolades as a successful attempt at global distribution of electronic, multi-asset asset class transaction processing via the Internet. From 1993 to1995 Buhannic served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fimat Futures USA, Inc., the subsidiary of French investment bank Societe General (SocGen), where he was credited with establishing Fimat as a viable and profitable player in the US marketplace. Prior to SocGen, from 1987 to 1993, Buhannic was the deputy Chief Financial Officer of Credit Commercial de France, where he oversaw the development of the foreign exchange dealing rooms and the global marketing of FX and interest rate products. Buhannic holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in international business from New York University's Stern School of Business, a Master's degree in Finance and Taxation from Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and has taught business and finance courses at his alma matter. He is a longtime board member of the Futures Industry Association and has worked in most major financial cities such as New York, Paris, Zurich and Sao Paulo. He is fluent in French and Portuguese.
Ivy Schmerken, Editor at LargeIvy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad number of topics including high frequency trading, algorithmic trading strategies, market structure, electronic trading in fixed income , colocation in data centers, Dodd-Frank regulation and the new derivatives landscape. Ivy meets with software companies and other innovators and writes about cloud computing, OMS/EMSs and other financial technologies.
Phil Albinus, Contributing EditorPhil Albinus is the former editor-in-chief of Advanced Trading. He has nearly two decades of journalism experience and has been covering financial technology and regulation for nine years. Before joining Advanced Trading, he served as editor of Waters, a monthly trade journal that analyzed the challenges of the CIO for sell side, buy side firms and exchanges. He has moderated countless briefings, webinars and industry panels. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York at New Paltz and lives with his wife and three children in Ossining, NY. Follow him in Twitter at @philalbinus
Alexander Fleiss, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, Rebellion Research Partners LPAlexander Fleiss serves as Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Rebellion Research Partners LP, a Global Macro hedge fund and financial advisory that invests across all asset classes and is based in New York. Mr. Fleiss also oversees the firm's institutional research division, Rebellion Economics, which offers coverage of 44 countries. Mr. Fleiss has spoken about Artificial Intelligence investing at conferences, colleges and in the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, BusinessWeek, Bloomberg News, Geo Magazine and Institutional Investor. Prior to co-founding Rebellion Research in 2007, Mr. Fleiss served as a Principal at KMF Partners LP, a long-short US equity fund. While at KMF, he was primarily responsible for investments in the financial service, technology and consumer industries. Mr. Fleiss began his investment career as an analyst for Sloate, Weisman, Murray & Co which was acquired by Neuberger Berman. Mr. Fleiss developed investment algorithms with the firm's CEO, Laura Sloate who is now a partner at Neuberger Berman. Mr. Fleiss received a BA Degree from Amherst College.
Michael J. Levas, Founder, Senior Managing Principal, Director of Trading, Olympian Group of Investment Management CosMichael J. Levas has been in the investment management business for over twenty years and is the founder,senior managing principal & director of trading at the Olympian Group of Investment Management Companies. Prior to Olympian, he was a VP and Portfolio Manager in the Private Client Group at Lehman Brothers Inc. Prior to that, he was a VP with SG Cowen, UBS PaineWebber and Bear Stearns where he managed in excess of $250 million in both institutional and retail portfolios. Mr. Levas is the former founder and managing member of Olympian Securities LLC, and is a licensed Series 24 general securities principal, Series 7 general securities representative, and a Series 65, 66 investment adviser representative with (FINRA). Mr. Levas is also the former founder and principal of Olympian Futures LLC, a former (NFA) registered introducing broker, and a licensed Series 3 associated person. Mr. Levas currently holds the Chartered Portfolio Manager (CPM) designation from the American Academy of Financial Management. Mr. Levas completed investment management studies at Harvard Business School and additionally, Mr.Levas has completed the Hedge Fund Programme at The London Business School. He is a current member of the CFA society of South Florida, Securities Traders Association of Florida, The National Association of Active Investment Managers, and formerly served on the 2008/2009 board of directors of The Hedge Fund Association. Mr. Levas is a frequent conference speaker, and commentator on the financial markets & asset management industry.He has been featured throughout the U.S.,Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia and in numerous publications, and media outlets including BusinessWeek, Dow Jones Newswires, The Financial Times,Smart Money,Hedge Fund Manager Week, Wall Street Letter, Euromoney, Wall St.& Technology,The Economic Times, Securities Industry News, Alternative Investment Review, Advanced Trading, Markets Media Magazine, TradeTech , Reuters, Bloomberg and National Public Radio.
Sean O'Dowd, Capital Markets Program Director, TeradataSean O'Dowd leads the Global Capital Markets program at Teradata for Industry and Marketing Solutions. In this role Sean focuses on industry strategy, marketing and field enablement. Areas of focus span financial market structure, regulations and technologies that impact the business models and strategies of financial markets firms (buy-side, sell-side, wealth management, custody, exchanges, and retail brokers). Topics include many of the large transformational technologies impacting capital markets, such as cloud services, mobility, information management and big/fast data, unstructured data and analytics. Additionally, Sean covers many industry specific trends and technologies including electronic trading, investment management operations, wealth management and personal finance, oversight infrastructure (Government agencies and SRO's). Sean's personal area of expertise lies within investment management, derivatives securities and trading technology.
Joe Saluzzi, Partner and co-head of equity trading, Themis TradingJoseph Saluzzi is partner, co-founder and co-head of equity trading of Themis Trading LLC, a leading independent agency brokerage firm that trades equities for institutional money managers and hedge funds. He is also the co-author of Broken Markets -- How High Frequency Trading and Predatory Practices on Wall Street are Destroying Investor Confidence. Mr. Saluzzi is a frequent speaker at industry conferences on issues involving market access, algorithmic trading and other sell- and buy-side concerns. He has provided expert commentary for media outlets such as CBS's 60 Minutes, BBC Radio, Bloomberg Television & Radio, CNBC, Fox Business, BNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Reuters, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg News. Mr. Saluzzi also has authored articles for Traders Magazine, Dow Jones and Journal of Investment Compliance. Prior to Themis, Mr. Saluzzi headed the team responsible for equity sales and trading for major institutional accounts at Instinet Corporation for more than nine years. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an MBA in Finance and received a Bachelor's Degree in Finance from New York University.
Gavin Little-Gill, Global Head of Front and Middle Office Asset Management, Managing Director, Asset Management for North AmericaGavin Little-Gill joined Linedata in 2007 and is responsible for Linedata's North American asset management business and the global front and middle office asset management businesses of Linedata. In this role, Gavin has overall responsibility for the vision, strategy and growth across the business. Prior to assuming this role, Gavin was Global Head of Asset Management Product Strategy where he oversaw global product management and strategy for all of Linedata's Asset Management Solutions. Before joining Linedata, Gavin was employed at Tower-Group for six years most recently holding the role of Group Research Director, overseeing the Securities and Investments practices. During that time, his research concentration was technology trends on the buy-side with a focus on trading technology. Prior to joining Tower Group, in 2001 Gavin spent 12 years in various capacities working in the financial industry. Two of these years' where spent at a US subsidiary of CDC-IXIS as Vice President. Prior to CDC, Gavin was with Scudder for nine years, most recently as Vice President. Gavin holds an M.S. in Finance from Boston College and a B.A. from Bates College, Maine. In addition, he has a Certificate in Pensions and Benefits from Bentley College, in Massachusetts, and has successfully passed the first exam of the C.F.A. Gavin has held Series 6, 7, 63, 24, and 26 registrations.
Sugata Ray, Assistant Professor of Finance, University of FloridaSugata Ray is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Florida. His research interests include hedge funds and market microstructure. Prior to joining the finance department at the University of Florida, he worked as a consultant for financial institutions with Oliver Wyman. He holds Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees in finance from the University of Pennsylvania.
Adam D. Honoré, Managing Director, FinQloud, NASDAQ OMXAdam Honoré is a managing director at NASDAQ OMX responsible for global business development and the ISV program for FinQloud. Prior to joining NASDAQ OMX, Mr. Honoré was the research director of the institutional securities practice at Aite Group. He specializes in financial services technology, focusing on strategic technology initiatives associated with high performance trading, market data, machine-readable content, smart order routing, technology services, and risk management issues.
Brooke Allen, 30-Year Industry VeteranBrooke Allen is a 30-year industry veteran who most recently founded a quantitative trading desk now celebrating its 17th year in continuous operation. For years he wrote a monthly piece for International Family Magazine, in 2009 he founded NoShortageOfWork.com to discuss work life, and in 2011 he created Questions For Colleges (Q4Colleges.com) to discuss issues facing higher education. Now he is beginning a series for us here on his beloved Securities Industry. Before you decide to trust him or collaborate with him, look at BrookeAllen.com where you will find his Personal Disclosure Statement.
Justin Schack, Managing Director/Partner, Rosenblatt SecuritiesJustin Schack is a Managing Director and Partner at Rosenblatt Securities, an institutional agency brokerage in New York. Schack heads the firm's Market Structure Analysis group, which provides institutional traders, investors, exchange groups, regulators and other clients with in-depth intelligence on global market structure and the exchange industry. Prior to joining Rosenblatt in February 2008, Schack spent 14 years as a financial and public-affairs journalist, most recently as Assistant Managing Editor of Institutional Investor, where he authored more than 20 cover stories during his eight years on the magazine's staff. His work has been recognized with awards from the National Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Schack holds a BA in history from Seton Hall University and an MA in history from the University of Connecticut.
John Bates, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Progress SoftwareJohn Bates is an Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Progress Software. In this role Bates is responsible for leading the team that creates and evolves the Progress vision and strategy, leads market research and due diligence for acquisitions to support the strategy, and evangelizes the Progress strategy and solutions to customers, partners and other constituencies. With an extensive background in the Capital Markets industry, Dr. Bates has pioneered new techniques in algorithmic and high frequency trading, real-time risk and market surveillance.
Matt Samelson, Principal at Woodbine Associates, Inc.Matt Samelson is a Principal at Woodbine Associates, Inc. focusing on strategic, business, regulatory, market structure and technology issues that impact firms active in and supporting the global equity markets. He brings to the firm a wealth of experience in U.S. and international equity sales and trading, quantitative analysis, consulting, and research. Mr. Samelson has interacted extensively with the media. He has appeared on CNBC and been quoted in a range of major publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Forbes, Business Week and CNBC Market Watch. He has also been quoted in various trade publications, including Institutional Investor, Trader Magazine, Advanced Trading, Wall Street & Technology, Wall Street Letter, Trading Technology Week, and Securities Industry News.
Stephen Davenport, Director Equity Risk Management, Wilmington Trust CompanySteve is responsible for developing risk-managed investment strategies for high-net-worth clients. He has a strong background in quantitative investment analysis, and a sophisticated approach to asset allocation and the use of derivatives. In particular, he has managed a call writing strategy for clients seeking additional income for the last six years. Steve began his career with State Street Global Advisors and later joined Columbia Management Investment Advisors in Boston as a senior investment advisor. During his career, Steve has focused on developing comprehensive solutions for families, executives, and entrepreneurs with concentrated stock positions. Steve holds an M.S. in Finance from Boston College's Wallace Carroll School of Management as well as bachelor's degrees in industrial engineering and mathematics/computer science from Columbia University and Providence College, respectively. Steve holds CFA designation and he is a member of Atlanta Security Analyst Society.
Featured Reports
- InformationWeek 2013 IT Spending Priorities Survey
- Best Practices: Top Mobile Productivity Tools for Finance
- Research: 2012 Bank Systems/Wall Street Salary Survey
- Research: Data Center Debate: Standardization vs. Specialization
- Best Practices: Using Apple's Global Proxy to Boost Mobile Security
Featured Whitepapers
- CSI's 2013 Annual Banking Priorities Study
- Accelerate software delivery in the complex financial services market
- Big Data in Trading and Risk Management
- IT Knowledge Expert - Making the ITIL 3 Service Knowledge Management System a Reality
- Reduce exception item processing costs: New technology paves the way to new savings