Advent converts portfolio software to run in Windows.

Hearing the call from its customers, Advent Software Inc. has introduced Axys, a portfolio management system that runs under Microsoft's Windows.

Advent is headquartered in San Francisco. The firm's Professional Portfolio, which run under Microsoft's DOS, is use by over 2,500 investment management firms and trust banks across the country.

According to Laura Atkins, an executive at Advent, the decision to introduce a Windows-based product was driven by industry trends.

She said that Advent had, in fact, recently completed a survey of its user base.

The results confirmed what Advent executives sensed was happening in the marketplace: over 80% of clients said they were using Windows.

No Conversion Procedures

To make it easy for these clients to move over to the new platform, Professional Portfolio can import data directly into the Axys product without any conversion procedures.

In addition, Axys' price has been discounted for existing Advent clients.

The system was developed in full compliance with guidelines written by Microsoft to ensure compatibility with the operating system.

"We took deliberate care to design Axys to Windows standards, so that our clients who are already. using Windows-based products can seamlessly transfer their skills to ours," Ms. Atkins said.

Field Testing

Steve Novak, president of Unterberg Harris Capital Management in New York, is currently testing Axys.

"We're using Windows now, so I anticipate that we'll be able to reduce both training time and the time spent actually managing our operations once we install Axys," he said.

With Windows, an investment manager could perform a range of tasks at the same time. Pricing and data interfaces could be viewed in one window, for example, while the manager performs a calculation in another.

Another Product Planned

Ms. Atkins said that Advent plans on expanding its offering of Windows-based products.

In the first half of 1994, the firm will introduce an order management system for the Windows environment.

The system is designed to automate trade order management workflow at buy-side firms.

The new system will integrate with Axys to provide a single point of data entry as well as the automatic posting of trades.

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