AtlasFX and FiREapps: How Two FX Risk Management Systems Stack Up

# Foreign Exchange

# Technology

NeuGroup members share what they need from FX risk management solutions, what they get and what could be better.

A need for automation, a user-friendly interface and consistent accuracy were among the highest priorities in selecting an FX risk management platform for members at a recent NeuGroup meeting that zeroed in on FiREapps and AtlasFX. AtlasFX ‘dream state.’ One member who recently worked with AtlasFX to adopt the platform lauded the firm’s flexibility and willingness to meet his company’s requests.

“We came up with a list of must-haves: ‘If we can build this, we are future-proof,’” the member said, and complimented the vendor on its accommodations. “It got built. Some of it’s still falling into place, though we did have the capacity to have a team member spend most of their time on it for three months.”

The member’s system now features automated calculations for complex business-to-business trading, as well as automated connections to the company’s ERP system, its TMS and its FX trading platform.

The member said that before this, his team was making these calculations manually, and he had to upload data to the other platforms.

“[AtlasFX] helped get us to a dream state,” the member said. “When I think about the solution they helped us build, it just makes me happy.”

Watching the clock. Though members using AtlasFX said they appreciate the company’s commitment to customization, users did agree that it took more time and effort for FX teams to implement than other systems. Asked to comment, an AtlasFX spokesperson responded:

“A typical deployment from beginning to end would be three to four months, but can vary in either direction based on complexity. However, with that time frame, the customer typically will have partial access to much improved data and analysis in just a few weeks.

“We are laser-focused on automating whatever is manual wherever we can, so we try to save them time in the FX workflow early on during the deployment, and ultimately free up a lot of time once everything is completed. We’re quite familiar with their pain points and can quickly implement some time-saving best practices.”

FiREapps: rock solid. When one user of FiREapps, Kyriba’s FX risk management solution, was asked why he choose the system, his answer was simple: it was very user-friendly, and “completely bulletproof.”

One member said the platform “works great” for measuring exposure on balance sheet and portfolio hedging and trade decisions. The member does not hedge cash flows.

Another member, who has used FiREapps in the past, called it a “one-size-fits-all” solution that won’t suit some companies’ needs. “The configuration time is a bit shorter, but it’s a vanilla solution,” he said.

A Kyriba spokesman said, “Now that FiREapps is a part of Kyriba, there are numerous additional features and functions available for clients to take advantage of. Kyriba is investing significantly in our products and there are always new and innovative solutions to explore with us.”

“We’ve never had an issue with errors, it’s very efficient,” one member said. However, he said he wished FiREapps offered more functionality for visualizing data and looking at trends.

“FiREapps has lots of data, but can be light on information,” he said. “If you’re trying to look into trends or do some visualization, FiREapps just doesn’t have the capability, you have to put it in something else to really analyze it.”

A Kyriba spokesman said the company “provides a number of different ways to help clients visualize their data.” He said the platform has “powerful analytics for creating trend analysis, variance analysis, hedge performance analysis as well as a variety of powerful business intelligence analytics related to data integrity, exposure and risk views.

“We are also working closely with several of our clients to design powerful business intelligence views that provide a comprehensive understanding of their FX program.”