Charles River IMS vs. FactSet Workstation

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Charles River IMS
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
The Charles River Investment Management Solution (Charles River IMS) automates front and middle office processes for buy-side firms. The solution helps enable accurate and timely investment decision support for institutional and wealth managers, alternative investment firms, insurers and asset owners. Charles River IMS helps clients streamline operations, reduce risk, and improve reliability.N/A
FactSet Workstation
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
The FactSet Workstation is a dynamic platform designed to empower financial professionals with seamless data access, advanced analytics, and technology. Integrating over 800 data sources across asset classes and markets, it consolidates crucial insights and elevates decision-making. Its AI-powered tools include smart search and chat features. The workstation simplifies complex workflows, enabling users to uncover insights quickly and improve collaboration. From research and portfolio…N/A
Pricing
Charles River IMSFactSet Workstation
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Charles River IMSFactSet Workstation
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Charles River IMSFactSet Workstation
Features
Charles River IMSFactSet Workstation
Financial Research
Comparison of Financial Research features of Product A and Product B
Charles River IMS
-
Ratings
FactSet Workstation
4.2
Ratings
51% below category average
Private Company Data00 Ratings1.00 Ratings
Industry-Specific Information00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Independent Research Access00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
M&A Analysis00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Macroeconomic News00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Search Tools00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
User Ratings
Charles River IMSFactSet Workstation
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Charles River IMSFactSet Workstation
Likelihood to Recommend
If your are large asset management company focused mostly on interest rate products and you are large institutional trader your way is the use of Charles River Portfolio Management & Risk Analytics account which is most reputable custodian institution which offers superior tool for bonds trading - Charles River IMS. Charles River Portfolio Management & Risk Analytics is focused on large bond traders, so is not offered for small hedge funds. It is not appropriate if you are small account holder and focused more on stock market offerings, margin trading and less focused on custodian reputation. There is no separate risk module for trading group risk management.
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As an equity focused investment manager, it is a great all-in-one platform to work from. It solves all our needs for data and Excel integration, modeling, news, market research, economic research and other investment research work. If you are a day trader, its maybe not as useful, but for a manager with normal turnover, it works great
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Pros
  • Focused on bonds
  • Risk approache based on counterparties risk measurement
  • Buid in scenario strategies and testing
  • CDS are available for trading (exlusive offering)
  • Portfolio construction
  • Yield analytics
  • Exotics: SWAPs, SWAPtions
  • Sophisticated options analytics
  • Currency forwards (exclusive offering)
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  • Easy/clear UI for navigation
  • Easily find and sort through financial filings to get to the data
  • Document search functionality seems to be improving consistently with more robust features
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Cons
  • Equities - microstructure to consider detection of iceberg orders
  • Build in algos for large trades execution
  • Corporate or Banking level platform - not focused on mid sized business
  • SAP connectivity
  • Only Charles River Portfolio Management & Risk Analytics accounts
  • No trading group accounts capabilities
  • Needs arbitrage trading algo: spread, statistical, merger for stocks
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  • Excel add-in formulas are not constructed in an intuitive way and too often require assistance from help desk
  • No chat function for help desk, which means delayed assistance time or talking with non-native English speakers, some of whom can be difficult to understand
  • There should be an AI chatbot that can answer routine queries; for more advanced questions, a human rep can be connected
  • Portfolio performance metrics should be downloadable using Excel add-in rather than being available only on Workstation
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
We need the FactSet data and capabilities to complete 75% of the financial analyses that we complete for both internal and external purposes. It is invaluable and I am not aware of any other provider that would be able to fill this gap that FactSet does
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Usability
No answers on this topic
FactSet Workstation offers a plethora of tools that I don't find I often use daily; however, the overall usability of the product is very user-friendly. As an example, I often use the search bar at the top of the workstation to find a specific metric I might need in a flash. The company frequently checks in through surveys and user feedback to identify areas where they can improve the usability and experience.
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Support Rating
No answers on this topic
I think the data delivery could be improved, but it's a good data set.
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Alternatives Considered
Charles River Portfolio Management & Risk Analytics is a state of the art company which owns state of the art products Charles River Portfolio Management & Risk Analytics. If you are considering long term value, capital preservation strategy and pension funds management that is the right choice if holdien one account versus several to get systematic diversification. You can run even department of banks treasury with use of Charles River Portfolio Management & Risk Analytics. So good but focused on large investors needs and diversification focus.
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Bloomberg has more info/data than FactSet Workstation which I pointed out earlier. To be fair, I believe Bloomberg is more expensive. Refinitiv - I have used Thomson Reuters Eikon in the past and I did not like the inflexible interface, FactSet Workstation is much more flexible. To be fair, Refinitiv may have made some upgrades since but my mental impression still lean towards FactSet Workstation because of ease of use.
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Return on Investment
  • Neutral. We are in system migration process.
  • We expect to get our P&L less volatile (+/- 5%). More international bonds in a mix
  • Top custodian is our first priority
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  • We were able to end contracts with a few vendors because FactSet provided everything we need for stock screening, modeling, and analytics directly saving us capital that could be repurposed elsewhere
  • Having a an all in one system that does everything speeds up training and learning curve for users
  • Cheaper than main competitor Bloomberg
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ScreenShots

FactSet Workstation Screenshots

Screenshot of PM Hub, which simplifies portfolio management with tools for building, analyzing, and simulating trades for multi-asset class portfolios and exposures. Users can monitor positions in real time with customizable views, ensure compliance, and execute trades through its integration. Link IRN data to foster deeper collaboration between research analysts and portfolio managers.Screenshot of FactSet Internal Research Notes (IRN), which streamlines research with one connected platform. These can be used to organize, share, and analyze everything from market trends to individual securities. Its AI tools help to boost collaboration, enhance workflows, and drive smarter investment decisions.Screenshot of some of the available information which can used to analyze performance, risk, and attribution across multi-asset portfolios. This integrates portfolio, market, and proprietary data into a single platform to streamline workflows, adapt to market changes, and make confident decisions. From stress testing and scenario analysis to AI-driven insights, FactSet provides tools to strengthen portfolio resilience, uncover drivers of performance, and foster collaboration with customizable reports and data sharing.Screenshot of a display of all accounts in one personalized dashboard. Viewers can analyze top positions, spot trends with proprietary signals, and track market-moving events. Access summary stats like total market value and asset allocation across an entire book or by household and strategy.Screenshot of FactSet’s proprietary news, which delivers real-time, focused market insights across regions like the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. From stocks to sectors to broad markets, StreetAccount simplifies updates to cut through the clutter. This critical news is available anytime via the Workstation, web, email, app, or API.Screenshot of one of FactSet's unique datasets, Geographic Revenue (GeoRev), used to quickly understand a company's revenue exposure in countries impacted by geopolitical, macroeconomic, and market risk through a highly structured and normalized display of companies' revenues by geography.