NEWS & NOTES
Successful Launch of the InvestingInBondsEurope.org Website
Bixler’s highly successful launch of the award-winning InvestingInBonds.com website led the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association to direct Bixler to create a similar investor education site for Europe.
InvestingInBondsEurope.org provides retail investors with tools to learn about the European fixed-income financial markets. For the first time, individuals have access not only to educational guides but also to important price data that previously was available only to institutional investors.
The Financial Times remarked that the site, “Offers a range of topics… presented in as simple language as possible and in a user-friendly style.”
The project is the result of a unique partnership between the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME); the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education; European members of AFME; and European market makers.
Together, some 40 organizations are contributing resources; expertise; bond price, market and ratings data; indices; important economic indicator and benchmark rate data; commentary and analysis; and educational content.
In five languages, the site features an extraordinary amount of financial data free to visitors including:
- 24 data feeds, 6 data consoles, and 16 tables
- 600 dynamic, real-time charts and graphs
- Aggregation of price information from Tradeweb, Markit, Iboxx, Merrill, S&P, MTSNext, ICAP, JPM, the ECB, Thomson Reuters and the U.S. Treasury
The Bixler team was very excited by the challenges of integrating data from so many sources and creating the mechanisms by which the charts and graphs are dynamically updated. Primary donors of data include:
- Breaking Views contributes the general commentary for the News & Commentary pages.
- Dawnay Day AV Analytics contributes the fixed income market analysis for Market-at-a-Glance pages.
- EuroMTS Limited contributes EuroMTS indices for Market–at-a-Glance pages.
- Markit contributes European corporate bond price information. Markit also contributes Markit iBoxx indices for all the Market-at-a-Glance pages.
- Moody's Investor Service in Europe contributes its credit ratings feed to the bond price consoles on www.InvestinginbondsEurope.org.
- Reuters UK and Thomson Reuters contribute EU and European economic indicators and benchmark rates data throughout the site.
- Permission was granted from the British Bankers Association for display of LIBOR rates.
- Permission was granted by European Banking Federation for display of EURIBOR and EONIA rates.
- Standard & Poor's Europe contributes its credit ratings feed to the bond price consoles on www.Investinginbondseurope.org.
- Standard & Poor's Europe donated educational guides to provide more information on Standard & Poor’s credit rating services for government, sub-sovereign, corporate and collateralized bonds.
- Bond Desk/TIPS contributed the European Bond Scenario Calculator.
- Tradeweb generously contributes European and US government; sub-sovereign; and collateralised bond price information.
Donors of indices, data and educational content for www.investinginbondsEurope.org from the US www.investinginbonds.com site also include:
Key Bixler deliverables included information architecture, interface design, graphic design, data integration, technical development, and ongoing support.
About AFME
AFME, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, promotes fair, orderly, and efficient European wholesale capital markets and provides leadership in advancing the interests of all market participants. AFME was formed on November 1st 2009 following the merger of LIBA (the London Investment Banking Association) and the European operation of SIFMA (the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association). AFME represents a broad array of European and global participants in the wholesale financial markets, and its 197 members comprise all pan_EU and global banks as well as key regional banks, brokers, law firms, investors and other financial market participants. AFME provides members with an effective and influential voice through which to communicate the industry standpoint on issues affecting the international, European, and UK capital markets. AFME is the European regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit the AFME website, www.AFME.eu.
About SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education
An affiliate of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education administers an array of award-winning, instructional programs and websites that have advanced the financial knowledge of tens of millions of people during the past three decades. The mission of the SIFMA Foundation is to foster knowledge and understanding of the financial markets for individuals of all backgrounds. For more information, visit the SIFMA website, www.sifma.org.