History
Founded in 1989 by Dominic Hobson and Charles Ruffel, the original focus of the magazine was on securities processing operations: articles that explore how shares trade and settle and are held. Its editorial scope has since expanded to include fund administration, securities lending and financing, prime brokerage and the infrastructure of the global securities industry (Central Securities Depositories or CSDs, International Central Securities Depositories or ICSDs, payments systems and other industry bodies and initiatives). The editorial content of the magazine is now also supported by industry-standard surveys that address how the performance of custodian banks, fund administrators, prime brokers and tri-party securities financing providers compare with each other and within individual markets.
With its news coverage and digital offering, Global Custodian's major awards evenings are among its flagship offerings - with a London Custody awards evening in March and a New York dinner honouring the leaders in hedge fund administration and prime brokerage during November.
Global Custodian was one of the first publications covering the financial services industry to launch a video news platform, called GCTV. Since 2007, GCTV has released numerous documentaries about the securities services industry in addition to its regular online news coverage.
The GC Legends Page serves as the Hall of Fame for the securities services industry, listing those who have made a difference during their career.
In October 2015, Global Custodian appointed Jonathan Watkins as editor, joining from The TRADE. In 2018, Watkins and colleagues Daljit Sokhi and Richard Schwartz conducted a management buyout from previous owners Strategic Insight.
The publication is run out of London.
State Street Corporation is an American financial services and bank holding company headquartered at One Lincoln Street in Boston with operations worldwide. It is the second-oldest continually operating United States bank; its predecessor, Union Bank, was founded in 1792. State Street is ranked 15th on the list of largest banks in the United States by assets. It is one of the largest asset management companies in the world with US$3.1 trillion under management and US$36.64 trillion under custody and administration. It is the second largest custodian bank in the world.
A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives at low transaction costs. Some of the securities include stocks and bonds, raw materials and precious metals, which are known in the financial markets as commodities.
A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any form of financial instrument, even though the underlying legal and regulatory regime may not have such a broad definition. In some jurisdictions the term specifically excludes financial instruments other than equities and fixed-income instruments. In some jurisdictions it includes some instruments that are close to equities and fixed income, e.g., equity warrants.
An investment bank is a financial services company or corporate division that engages in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by underwriting or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities. An investment bank may also assist companies involved in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and provide ancillary services such as market making, trading of derivatives and equity securities, and FICC services. Most investment banks maintain prime brokerage and asset management departments in conjunction with their investment research businesses. As an industry, it is broken up into the Bulge Bracket, Middle Market, and boutique market.
Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, consumer-finance companies, stock brokerages, investment funds, individual managers and some government-sponsored enterprises.
A repurchase agreement, also known as a repo, RP, or sale and repurchase agreement, is a form of short-term borrowing, mainly in government securities. The dealer sells the underlying security to investors and, by agreement between the two parties, buys them back shortly afterwards, usually the following day, at a slightly higher price.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is an American post-trade financial services company providing clearing and settlement services to the financial markets. It performs the exchange of securities on behalf of buyers and sellers and functions as a central securities depository by providing central custody of securities.
Guotai Junan Securities Co., Ltd. (GTJA) is one of the largest investment banks and securities companies in the People's Republic of China.
Prime brokerage is the generic name for a bundled package of services offered by investment banks, wealth management firms, and securities dealers to hedge funds which need the ability to borrow securities and cash in order to be able to invest on a netted basis and achieve an absolute return. The prime broker provides a centralized securities clearing facility for the hedge fund so the hedge fund's collateral requirements are netted across all deals handled by the prime broker. These two features are advantageous to their clients.
In finance, securities lending or stock lending refers to the lending of securities by one party to another.
Cowen Inc., is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company that operates through two business segments: a broker-dealer and an investment management division. The company's broker-dealer division offers investment banking services, equity and credit research, sales and trading, global prime brokerage, outsourced trading, global clearing and commission management services. Cowen's investment management segment offers actively managed alternative investment products. Founded in 1918, the firm is headquartered in New York and has offices worldwide. As of 2018, Cowen managed US$11 billion in alternative investment strategies.
A custodian bank, or simply custodian, is a specialized financial institution responsible for safeguarding a brokerage firm's or individual's financial assets and is not engaged in "traditional" commercial or consumer/retail banking such as mortgage or personal lending, branch banking, personal accounts, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and so forth. The role of a custodian in such a case would be to:
StoneX Group Inc. is a financial services organization. The company operates in six areas: commercial hedging, global payments, securities, physical commodities, foreign exchange and clearing and execution services (CES). The company ranked No. 100 in the 2020 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. In July 2020, the company rebranded and changed its name to StoneX Group Inc.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to finance:
Investor Services Journal is a magazine covering the financial services industry specifically global custody, sub-custody, central depositories, clearing houses, securities lending and financing, mutual fund administration, hedge fund administration, private equity fund administration and prime brokerage.
Jeremy Frommer is an American financier and entrepreneur based in New Jersey. His career includes over two decades on Wall Street, working as a hedge fund and portfolio manager, and on the sell-side of the financial industry, building and selling two financial services companies. He is CEO of Jerrick Ventures Inc., a company that acquires, develops and produces content across all forms of media. Frommer is depicted in Michael Lewis' book Flash Boys. In 2012, Frommer discovered the "Guccione Collection," a large collection of unpublished works and photos owned by Bob Guccione, the founder of the Penthouse empire.
Phoenix American Incorporated is a privately held financial services company headquartered in San Rafael, California. It is the parent of several companies: Phoenix American Financial Services / Phoenix Transfer, Phoenix Securitization Administration and Accounting, Phoenix Leasing Portfolio Services, Inc., SalesFocus Solutions, Phoenix Leasing Bank Services, Phoenix Leasing, Inc., and Phoenix Cable, Inc.
İş Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş. is a Turkish investment bank arm of the bank İşbank.
Securities market participants in the United States include corporations and governments issuing securities, persons and corporations buying and selling a security, the broker-dealers and exchanges which facilitate such trading, banks which safe keep assets, and regulators who monitor the markets' activities. Investors buy and sell through broker-dealers and have their assets retained by either their executing broker-dealer, a custodian bank or a prime broker. These transactions take place in the environment of equity and equity options exchanges, regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), or derivative exchanges, regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). For transactions involving stocks and bonds, transfer agents assure that the ownership in each transaction is properly assigned to and held on behalf of each investor.
Citco, also known as the Citco Group of Companies and the Curaçao International Trust Co., is a privately owned global hedge fund administrator headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, founded in 1948. It is the world's largest hedge fund administrator, managing over $1 trillion in assets under administration.
