Matching resources of a securities research department to accounts of the department

• US 8,209,253 B2
• Filed: 02/16/2010
• Issued: 06/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Morgan Stanley Services Group Inc. (Morgan Stanley)
• Original Assignee: Morgan Stanley
• Inventors: Hurewitz, Barry S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Jagdish
• Assistant Examiner(s): POE, KEVIN T
• Application Number:
  US12/706,054
• Publication Number:
  US 20100145757A1
• Time in Patent Office: 861 Days
• Field of Search: 705/36.R, 705/35
• US Class Current: 705/36.00R
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

Systems and methods for allocating limited resources of a securities research department to accounts of the department are disclosed. According to various embodiments, the system includes an account scoring module and a resource matching module. The account scoring module is for generating a score for each account, and the resource matching module is for matching the resources of the department to the accounts based on the scores for each account.

Claims

1. A system for allocating limited resources of a securities research entity to a plurality of accounts associated with the securities research entity, the system comprising a computing device, wherein the computing device comprises:

at least one processor and an operatively associated computer readable medium, wherein the computer readable medium comprises instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor cause the computing device to;

receive values for a plurality of attributes from an account attribute data store, wherein each of the plurality of attributes describes at least one of the plurality of accounts;

for each of the plurality of accounts, generate a service score based at least in part on values selected from the values for the plurality of attributes, wherein each service score indicates a value of the corresponding account to the securities research entity relative to other accounts selected from the plurality of accounts; and

match the resources of the securities research entity to the plurality of accounts based at least in part on the service score for each account, wherein the match of the resources to the accounts comprises;

determining a number of preference points assigned to each account of the plurality of accounts based on the service score of the account;

receiving resource capacity data from the resource capacity database, wherein the resource capacity data indicates a quantity of resources available to be matched;

receiving allocation data indicating an allocation of the preference points assigned to each account across at least one of the resources of the securities research entity; and

matching the resources to the plurality of accounts based at least in part on the number of preference points allocated to the resource for each account.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to estimate the financial impact of resource allocations.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of attributes are organized into at least one category, and wherein the computer readable medium further comprises instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to generate the service score for each account based on a weighted percentage average of values for a plurality of the one or more attributes related to each category and describing the account.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the values for the attributes include percentile rankings.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer readable medium further comprises instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to implement a user interface for allowing a user to define a scoring scenario by which the service scores of the accounts are determined.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the user interface is further for allowing the user to define resources and the capacity for each resource.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the resources of the securities research entity comprise at least one resource selected from the group consisting of:

at least one analyst-contact relationship;

attendance at a one-to-one meeting with a securities research analyst;

attendance at a securities research conference; and

attendance at a corporate event hosted by the securities research entity.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein each attribute value for an account comprises a ranking of the account in the attribute relative to other accounts of the securities research entity.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein matching the resources to the plurality of accounts based at least in part on the number of preference points allocated to the resource for each account comprises, for each resource:

identifying an account having the most preference points allocated to the resource;

matching the resource to an account having the most preference points allocated to the resource; and

conditioned on all resources of the same type as the resource being matched and for all accounts having remaining preference points allocated to resources of the same type as the resource being matched, reallocating the preference points of the accounts to resources of different types.

10. A computer-implemented method for allocating limited resources of a securities research entity to a plurality of accounts of the securities research entity, comprising:

receiving by a computing device from an account attribute data store values for a plurality of attributes, wherein each of the plurality of attributes describes at least one of the plurality of accounts, wherein the computing device comprises at least one processor and operatively associated memory;

for each of the plurality of accounts, generating by the computing device a service score based at least in part on values selected from the values for the plurality of attributes, wherein each service score indicates a value of the corresponding account to the securities research entity relative to other accounts selected from the plurality of accounts; and

matching the resources of the securities research entity to the plurality of accounts based at least in part on the service score for each account, wherein the matching of the resources to the accounts comprises;

determining by the computing device a number of preference points assigned to each account of the plurality of accounts based on the service score of the account;

receiving resource capacity data by the computing device from the resource capacity database, wherein the resource capacity data indicates a quantity of resources available to be matched;

receiving by the computing device allocation data indicating an allocation of the preference points assigned to each account across at least one of the resources of the securities research entity; and

matching the resources to the plurality of accounts by the computing device based at least in part on the number of preference points allocated to the resource for each account.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising estimating the financial impact of resource allocations.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of attributes are organized into at least one category, and further comprising generating the service score for each account based on a weighted percentage average of values for a plurality of the one or more attributes related to each category and describing the account.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the values for the attributes include percentile rankings.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising implementing a user interface for allowing a user to define a scoring scenario by which the service scores of the accounts are determined.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the user interface is further for allowing the user to define resources and the capacity for each resource.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the resources of the securities research entity comprise at least one resource selected from the group consisting of:

at least one analyst-contact relationship;

attendance at a one-to-one meeting with a securities research analyst;

attendance at a securities research conference; and

attendance at a corporate event hosted by the securities research entity.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein matching each of the resources to one of the plurality of accounts based on the number of preference points allocated to the resource for each account comprises, for each resource:

identifying an account having the most preference points allocated to the resource;

matching the resource to an account having the most preference points allocated to the resource; and

conditioned on all resources of the same type as the resource being matched and for all accounts having remaining preference points allocated to resources of the same type as the resource being matched, reallocating the preference points of the accounts to resources of different types.

18. A computer-implemented method for allocating limited resources of a securities research entity to a plurality of accounts of the securities research entity, comprising:

receiving by a computing device from an account attribute data store values for a plurality of attributes, wherein each of the plurality of attributes describes at least one of the plurality of accounts, wherein the computing device comprises at least one processor and operatively associated memory;

for each of the plurality of accounts, generating by the computing device a service score based at least in part on values selected from the values for the plurality of attributes, wherein each service score indicates a value of the corresponding account to the securities research entity relative to other accounts selected from the plurality of accounts; and

matching the resources of the securities research entity to the plurality of accounts based at least in part on the service score for each account, wherein the matching of the resources to the accounts comprises;

determining by the computing device a number of preference points assigned to each account of the plurality of accounts based on the service score of the account;

receiving resource capacity data by the computing device from the resource capacity database, wherein the resource capacity data indicates a quantity of resources available to be matched;

for each account, determining a default allocation of the preference points assigned to the account across at least one of the resources of the securities research entity;

matching the resources to the plurality of accounts by the computing device based at least in part on a number of preference points allocated to the resource for each account.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the number of preference points allocated to the resource for each account is equal to the default allocation of the preference points for the account.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising receiving a second allocation of the preference points assigned to an account selected from the plurality of accounts across at least one of the resources of the securities research entity, and wherein the number of preference points allocated to the resource for the account is equal to the second allocation.