Finansinvest, based in Istanbul, Turkey, has adopted SunGard’s Front Arena trading solution, which will help the firm source and trade liquidity at the right price in multiple asset classes. SunGard’s multi-asset trading solution will help Finansinvest gain a competitive edge in pricing and risk management, market making on the Turkish stock exchange, trade and execution management, cross-asset trading, over-the-counter (OTC) electronic trading, and order management.

Finansinvest’s implementation of SunGard’s Front Arena trading solution is the first in Turkey. SunGard is one of the world’s leading financial software companies, with revenue in 2014 of $2.8bn. The company has also established an office in Istanbul and is set to add new hires to the local team.

Turkey’s growth over the past decade has made the country an extremely attractive investment proposition, which in turn has seen the further development of its financial services industry. Its economy is now the 18^th largest in the world, and foreign direct investment has gone from around $1bn ten years ago to an average of $13bn over the past five years. [Source: World Bank, 2015] 

Ozgur Guneri, CEO of Finansinvest, said: “At FinansInvest, our mission is to offer sophisticated and integrated solutions to our clients along with high quality and dedicated financial advisors. On this mission, we aim to explore the highest level of technology and innovation which enables us to offer a trusted, transparent and convenient investment platform. We believe that our cooperation with SunGard will be a key milestone in helping us gain a competitive advantage on this front. By implementing SunGard’s Front Arena, we are well-poised for growth and look forward to a long and rewarding association with SunGard.”

Wissam Khoury, managing director for SunGard in the Middle East & Africa, said: “We are very happy to be working with Finansinvest. Opportunities in the growing Turkish market are plentiful and we are now actively pursuing further expansion in the country by investing locally and hiring new people on the ground. Our investment is bringing customers added value by utilizing our solutions to help them compete more effectively.

“Recent regulatory changes in Turkey gave investment banks the opportunity to provide OTC derivative products to their clients more easily. We were able to provide Finansinvest with a smooth transition process to enable them to cope with these regulatory changes.

“There is a gap in the market for the type of solutions we offer, allowing SunGard to become a trusted, long-term technology provider of Turkish financial institutions and to contribute to the development of Turkish capital markets. It is an exciting time for us to be active in Turkey.”