Press Releases

Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management Adds Governance Capabilities to Investing Workstation

IWF Workstation applications expand from analysis of corporate practices and social concerns to include corporate governance, with data provided by The Corporate Library

PORTLAND, Maine, February 14, 2006 — Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management has added corporate governance to its existing IW Financial Workstation applications, it was announced today.  

"Governance, social, and related issues continue to rank high on investors' list of concerns, and are increasingly recognized by the investment community as risk factors in equity performance," stated Sam Pierce, chief executive officer at IW Financial, in making the announcement. "In the future, we believe that any firm offering customized portfolios will need to have the tools in place to address these issues."

First introduced in the fourth quarter of 2005, IW Financial's Governance Workstation uses data provided by The Corporate Library to give investment managers the ability to quickly evaluate governance practices as part of the investment decision making process.   Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management has employed IW Financial's Corporate Practices Workstation since the fall of 2004 to give its investment managers the ability to include client-specified guidelines on corporate practices and social concerns in constructing investment portfolios.  

Governance features include more than 50 data points
The addition of corporate governance to the Deutsche Workstation reflects a growing trend towards integrating environmental and social research with governance research to provide investors managers with a more complete picture. IW Financial's Workstation is the first platform to seamlessly integrate corporate practices and governance data for efficient use by portfolio managers and other investment professionals.

Governance features available on the IWF Workstation platform include more than 50 data points across nine categories including board independence, CEO compensation, auditing practices, and shareholder rights. The applications unique ability to generate comparative ratings based on user or client defined criteria allows asset managers to quickly examine corporate governance issues using a single standard based on "expert" opinion or from multiple user-defined perspectives.

IW Financial's Workstation platform represents a new stage in implementing investment strategies that integrate corporate practices and corporate governance. On the corporate practices side, IW Financial's applications allows users to identify investments that are aligned with client concerns about a range of characteristics that includes environmental policies, animal testing, human rights, labor relations, alcohol, gambling, contraceptives, tobacco, and adult entertainment issues, without limiting a manager's ability to deliver favorable returns.    

The Workstation combines research on these factors with client-specified investment guidelines to help advisors evaluate the investment suitability of more than 2,000 publicly-traded equity securities. Portfolio managers can quickly and easily access new information that falls outside of traditional financial analysis, including narrative commentary on a company's practices.   With this information at hand, the manager is positioned to identify investment opportunities and build portfolios, while closely adhering to all applicable investment guidelines.    

About IW Financial
Founded in 2000, IW Financial is a leading provider of research based technology solutions that enable financial professionals to identify risks and opportunities, differentiate their services, and strengthen relationships with clients. IW Financial offers its applications to money management firms, advisors, and institutional investors through the IWF Workstation platform.

Dan Porter
VP of Marketing
IW Financial
207-773-2333

Mike MacMillan or
Rebecca Love
MacMillan Communications
212-473-4442
info@macmillancom.com