Verification of net asset values

• US 20030101119A1
• Filed: 11/27/2001
• Published: 05/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Street Corporation
• Original Assignee: State Street Corporation
• Inventors: Ray, Thomas F., Parsons, Robin L.
• Granted Patent: US 7,587,354 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a system for verifying financial data, such as a Net Asset Value (“NAV”), received from a third party. A new NAV for a fund may be supplied to the system, along with other data, for storage in a database of financial data. Upon receiving the new NAV, the system may analyze the NAV by comparing it to historical NAVs for that fund. If the NAV is within a certain variance, as compared to historical values, then the NAV may be stored as a current NAV for the fund. However, if the NAV differs from one or more historical values by more than a predetermined tolerance, the system may present to a provider of the NAV data one or more possible explanations for the variation, from among which the provider must select an explanation before the NAV is added to the database of financial data.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving from a data provider a net asset value for a fund owned by a customer;

comparing the net asset value to one or more historical net asset values for the customer to obtain a variance that characterizes a difference between the net asset value and the one or more historical net asset values;

when the variance is within a tolerance for the net asset value, storing the net asset value in a database; and

when the variance is not within the tolerance for the net asset value;

i) presenting a plurality of preset explanations for the variance-to the data provider,

ii) requiring the data provider to select one of the plurality of preset explanations for the variance; and

iii) storing the net asset value and the one of the plurality of preset explanations in the database.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the data provider is at least one of a third-party data provider or a fund manger.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the tolerance is user-modifiable.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the tolerance is a range of acceptable percentage variations.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the acceptable percentage variations are based on a month-end to month-end variation in at least one of the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the Standard and Poors 500.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the range of acceptable percentage variations is a range of between +/−

5% and +/−

30%.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the range of acceptable percentage variations is determined relative to the one or more historical net asset values.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein the range of acceptable percentage variations is determined relative to the received net asset value.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the tolerance is a range of acceptable absolute variations.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the range of acceptable absolute variations is a range of between +/−

$100 million and +/−

$2 billion.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the tolerance is an asymmetrical range of acceptable variations.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein a tolerance is determined individually for each one of a plurality of different funds owned by the customer.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the tolerance is adjusted according to a market condition.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of preset explanations for the variance includes at least one of asset transfers, benefit payments, incorrect prior month values, cash influxes, cash withdrawals, collateral NAV changes, contributions, conversions, closing of funds, merger of funds, supplied and client verified NAVs, derivative fluctuations, changes in security market values, expenses, fund mergers, holding accounts, liquidation of partial assets, new money from shareholders, creation of a new fund, shareholder distributions, shareholder redemptions, shareholder subscriptions, trading activities, favorable or unfavorable exchange rates, or valid zero asset balances.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the preset explanations are edited by an authorized user.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a net asset value for a fund further comprises receiving at least one of a spreadsheet, a comma delimited file, or a tab delimited file that contains the net asset value.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a net asset value for a fund further comprises receiving a net asset value that is manually entered through a user interface.

18. A computer program product comprising:

computer executable code for receiving from a data provider a net asset value for a fund owned by a customer;

computer executable code for comparing the net asset value to one or more historical net asset values for the customer to obtain a variance that characterizes a difference between the net asset value and the one or more historical net asset values;

computer executable code for storing the net asset value in a database when the variance is within a tolerance for the net asset value; and

computer executable code for, when the variance is not within the tolerance for the net asset value;

i) presenting a plurality of preset explanations for the variance to the data provider,

ii) requiring the data provider to select one of the plurality of preset explanations for the variance; and

iii) storing the net asset value and the one of the plurality of preset explanations in the database.

19. A system comprising:

means for receiving from a data provider a net asset value for a fund owned by a customer;

means for comparing the net asset value to one or more historical net asset values for the customer to obtain a variance that characterizes a difference between the net asset value and the one or more historical net asset values;

means for storing the net asset value in a database when the variance is within a tolerance for the net asset value; and

means for, when the variance is not within the tolerance for the net asset value;

i) presenting a plurality of preset explanations for the variance to the data provider,

ii) requiring the data provider to select one of the plurality of preset explanations for the variance; and

iii) storing the net asset value and the one of the plurality of preset explanations in the database.

20. A system comprising:

a database having storage for financial data for one or more funds owned by a customer,

the financial data for the one or more funds including one or more historical net asset values for the one or more funds;

a client device connected in a communicating relationship with a network, the client device receiving fund data relating to the one or more funds, the fund data including a new net asset value for at least one of the one or more funds;

a server connected in a communicating relationship with the database and the client device, the server receiving the fund data from the client device and executing a process to compare the new net asset value to the one or more historical net asset values, the process further configured to present a plurality of preset explanations to the client device when a variance between the new net asset value and the one or more historical net asset values exceeds a tolerance, and, when the tolerance is exceeded, further configured to store the new net asset value only when a selected one of the plurality of preset explanations has been received from the client device.

21. The system of claim 20, the server further configured to present a user interface to a second client device, the user interface providing controls for adding, deleting, or modifying one of the plurality of preset explanations.

22. The system of claim 20, the server further configured to present a user interface to a second client device, the user interface providing controls for modifying the tolerance.

23. A method comprising:

receiving a value for a measurement from a data provider;

comparing the value to one or more historical values for the measurement to obtain a variance that characterizes a difference between the value and the one or more historical values;

when the variance is within a tolerance for the value, storing the value in a database; and

when the variance is not within the tolerance for the value;

i) presenting a plurality of preset explanations for the variance to the data provider,

ii) requiring the data provider to select one of the plurality of preset explanations for the variance; and

iii) storing the net asset value and the one of the plurality of preset explanations in the database.