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Description  |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a delivery system for investment research in which portions of an investment research database are stored at a remote location for real time access by a user/investor. More specifically, the invention relates to a system
for notifying a user/investor of current investment research information and reports of interest to the user/investor and for providing access to the information and reports from the user/investor location in the broker/author's original form and in real
time.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Brokers and security issuers produce tens of thousands of investment research reports, sales brochures, annual reports and the like annually. These reports are carefully prepared and edited by analysts and marketers from textual and graphical
information using desk top publishing systems. The completed reports which may be color printed and run many pages in length are delivered not only to the brokers' branch and retail offices, but also to institutional investors. Millions of dollars are
spent to prepare, print and mail these reports, yet no mechanism other than word of mouth exists for authors/brokers to determine readership of their reports.
On the other side of Wall Street, institutional investors are besieged with investment research reports --many portfolio/fund managers receive over three feet of investment research reports per week. As a result, as many as 65% of the reports
are thrown out unopened, and less than 10% of the reports are ever read. Even the 35% or so of equity research reports which are retained by institutions, readership is likely to be very low since there is no easy way to quickly access reports relevant
to any particular subject of interest. Further, the cost of report retention is significant and may be prohibitive.
What is desired by authors/brokers therefore is a system for distributing their investment research reports on a real time basis in its original form and for directing investors' attention to reports of particular interest to them. A system
which subsequently provides feedback on report readership is also desired. What is desired by institutional investors is a system for obtaining real time access to current investment research reports of primary interest to the investor in the
authors'/brokers' original form (including text, graphics and layout). The capabilities to archive older investment research and to enable searching of current and archived reports is also desired.
Multi-user database systems for electronically storing and retrieving documents are well known. Some of these systems, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,553,261 4,748,678 4,941,125 5,109,439 5,187,750 and 5,287,497 store documents as
images. A disadvantage of this approach is it requires an excessive amount of memory to store a page of text, increasing costs and access times. A further disadvantage is that text stored as an image may not be retrieved using a word search. Moreover,
even though storage as an image permits retrieval of the document in its original form, the digitizing process necessarily reduces resolution of the image from the original, such that a document reconstituted from the image data will be of lower quality
than an author's original, and consequently may be less well-received by a reader.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,438 and col. 2, lines 26-29 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,073 disclose a system including a complete host database and a partial local database of the most recently requested files. The local database is periodically updated by
deletion of the least frequently used files. The system of the '438 patent is designed for airline reservations such that the host and local databases are fairly static and the local database generally only includes flight information on regional
airports for fast access, while information on other airports is available from the host. In addition to faster access for most users, the overall cost is reduced and reliance on communication links is eliminated.
The '073 patent is directed to a broadcast oriented database architecture for large volume inquiry systems (i.e. operator assistance) including a data pump for cyclically broadcasting the entire database over a high band width medium (e.g.
optical fiber). The broadcast may be analyzed by a plurality of record retrieval elements simultaneously, and no indexing of the database is necessary. An upstream channel from each retrieval element to the pump is provided for updating the database.
Other database systems, such as Thomson Financial Services' First Call system for equity research information, store only the text portions of documents. These databases are more memory efficient than image-based systems and support word-search
document retrieval, but are generally not capable of rendering the document in the author's original form, and do not typically include storage of nontext portions of documents such as graphics and layout information.
More recently, portable ROMs have been introduced which store mixed format documents as combinations of text with graphics, sound, video and the like. A disadvantage of these systems is that the stored information is not able to be distributed
on a real time basis due to the time required for manufacturing and delivery of the ROM. Further, the time and effort required for switching ROMs and for accessing information on the ROMs may also be disadvantageous. The cost of providing enough
storage to each user to permit archival searching may be prohibitive, and the portability of these systems does not lend itself to tracking readership of individual documents.
There is a need in the database art to provide a system which notifies users of current documents of interest to the users, and permits immediate retrieval from users' locations of such documents in the author's original form. A system which
also permits searching of current and archived documents at a shared-access host location is also needed, as is a system which subsequently reports use of documents back to authors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a system for notifying users of current documents of interest to the users.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system in which current documents of interest to the user are stored in the author's original form at the user's location.
A further object of the invention is to provide a system permitting real time access to current documents of interest to the user in the author's original form.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a system for distributing documents from multiple authors and for reporting readership of the documents back to the authors.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system of the above character for distributing brokers' equity research to institutional investors.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system of the above character in which current and archived documents are searchable by users at a shared-access or host location.
Yet still another object of the invention is to provide a system of the above character in which current documents are broadcast to all users but are only available for storage at user locations according to instructions received from authors.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved by provision of a system for delivery, of an author's investment research to an investor comprising a host for receiving investment research in a page description format, a transmitter at the
host location for transmitting the page description format investment research, and a database at a location remote from the host for storing investment research received from the host, permitting current research to be immediately rendered by investors
in the author's original form. Investment research which has been stored on the remote database for the longest time is deleted as necessary to store the current research. Preferably, the host receives investment research from a plurality of authors
and broadcasts the investment research to a plurality of investors.
Preferably, the system includes one or more author stations at remote broker locations for converting the investment research to the page description format. Most preferably the author stations may also be used by authors to prepare entitlement
lists indicating which investors may receive each author's research and which investors may not.
Preferably, the system includes one or more view stations at investor locations for rendering the investment research from the page description format back to the author's original form. Most preferably, the view stations notify portfolio
managers when the remote database has received a new piece of investment research of interest to the portfolio manager. The view stations also preferably convert the page description format to PostScript format for printing the research in the author's
original form.
Most preferably, the system includes both author stations and view stations. The author stations are used to prepare headlines regarding the origin and subject matter of the investment research, and the view stations are used to prepare profiles
of portfolio manager's interests. Upon comparing the headlines to the profiles, the host generates instructions for the view stations regarding which portfolio manager to notify of which piece of investment research. The host also compares the
entitlement lists to the profiles for generating instructions regarding which remote databases may store which pieces of investment research.
The invention and its particular features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description considered with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an investment research delivery system in accordance with the invention.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram detailing the author station block of the system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram detailing the validation block of the system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram detailing the indexer block of the system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram detailing the view station block of the system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram detailing the request handler block of the system of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting an investment research delivery system 10 in accordance with the invention. System 10 is designed to deliver investment research generated by a plurality of brokers 12 to a plurality of institutional investors
14. In addition to brokers 12, investment research within the scope of the invention may also be generated by security issuers for purposes of reporting results, promoting sales, complying with government regulations, and the like, and by market
watchers for purposes of selling subscriptions to newsletters and the like. As illustrated, investment research generated by brokers 12 is not delivered directly to institutions 14, rather it is delivered to an intermediate host 16. Host 16 then
delivers the investment research to institutions 14.
By "investment research" is meant reports, memoranda, notes, promotional materials, annual reports, earnings reports, government filings, and other information concerning a particular security, security issuer, class of securities, or industry,
which is generated by brokerage firms, security issuers, market watchers and others, which is relevant to an investment decision. Typically, brokers have a plurality of analysts 18, each of whom concentrates on a particular security, class of securities
or industry, and periodically generates investment research concerning their area of concentration. This investment research is produced on desk top publishing or word processing software capable of producing a PostScript (PS) format output file.
PostScript is a page description language developed by Adobe Systems for operating output devices such as printers. Using the PS output file, a PS compatible device should be able to render the research in the original form in which it was produced by
the analyst.
Analysts 18 input the PS format investment research to an author station 20 located at the broker 12 location. Author station 20 may comprise a stand-alone personal computer (PC) or workstation, a mainframe terminal, or a LAN or other
installation of multiple interconnected computers. Preferably, author station 20 is one or more PCs with the following minimum system configuration: 486/66 with 12 Mb RAM 200 Mb disk generally connected to author's LAN. It is understood that the
analysts' word processing and/or desk top publishing software may, but is usually not, installed on author station 20.
Author station 20 includes software for receiving analysts' PS format research and preparing it for distribution to institutions 14 by host 16. Referring now to FIG. 2, the function of author station 20 or software running thereon is depicted in
a block diagram.
As illustrated at 22, author station 20 converts the PS format research received from the analyst into a portable document format or .pdf file. By "portable document format" is meant a distillation of the font, layout and design characteristics
of the analysts' original document, as represented in the PS file, for ease of data communication and transmission. Both PS format and portable document format are page description formats for rendering documents in their original form. This function
of author station 20 is preferably achieved by Adobe Systems' Acrobat Distiller software which is licensed for use in system 10. In the event the conversion from PS format to .pdf file is flawed, a .log file is also generated which details the
conversion error or problem.
Another portion of the author station 20 software is illustrated at 24 and permits analysts 18 to create a .key file used by host 16 in delivering the research, and by institutions 14 in using and searching the research. The .key file includes a
headline identifying the research, an entitlement list for distributing the research, and the following field information used for searching archived research: broker, analyst, symbol, country, industry, region, subject, and possibly others.
Author station 20 also includes communication software and a modem (not shown) for transmitting at 26 the .pdf and .key files to host 16 as indicated by communication link 28 (see FIG. 1). It is understood that the .log file may also be
transmitted in cases where the conversion is problematic. Communication link 28 is a public telephone line, however, it is understood that a dedicated or other wire, and/or wireless links may also be used. By "wire" is meant any physical connection,
whether by optical fiber, coaxial cable, twisted pair or otherwise, and by "wireless" is meant cellular, microwave, IR, laser or other non-physical connection.
Investment research .pdf and .key files are continuously received at host 16 from the plurality of author stations 20 at brokers' locations. Research received by host 16 is first validated as illustrated at 30 in FIGS. 1 and 3. The main
purposes of validation are to preserve and maintain the integrity of research distributed by system 10, and to improve the usefulness and ease of using research distributed by system 10.
The first step in validating research is to render the research at 32 from the .pdf file for display on an editor's terminal (not shown) to identify obvious errors. It is understood that many editors may be used and that they are preferably
linked together in a network configuration. Any such errors typically arise in creation of the PS output by the analyst's word processing or desk top publishing software, due to the inconsistent quality of PS drivers. Errors may then be reported back
to the analyst by the editor. It is understood that this step in the validation process may also conveniently be performed by the analyst at author station 20 where the original conversion from PS format to .pdf files was completed. In any event, due
to time, resource and cost restraints, host 16 may elect not to perform this validation step on some of the research received from brokers 12, especially when it is known that the brokers' desk top publishing software has a sophisticated PS driver.
In the event the conversion to portable document format was somehow flawed, the .log file will need to be reviewed at 34 to determine the source of the error. In some cases it may be desirable to reconvert the analyst's original document file to
PS format, for example, with a different PS driver. As shown at 34, the .key file is also reviewed and may need to be corrected, for example, to replace invalid field information.
In addition to review functions, the validation process and/or the editor may also add information to the .pdf and .key files at 36. An example of the type of information added to these files is a Table of Contents and so-called "Hypertext"
markers to the .pdf files. The markers permit a user to quickly move through the analyst's text between portions which correspond to sections outlined in the table of contents. It is understood that the table of contents and markers do not alter the
analyst's text, and that they may be input at author station 20 as easily as at host 16. Other things which may be added to the .key files include corresponding ticker symbols for additional exchanges which trade the security, e.g. CUSIP, ISIN, SEDOL
and the like. In this regard, host 16 is solely designed to deliver the investment research of others, and not to produce investment research.
Validated .pdf and .key files are transferred along line 38 for storage in host database 40, along line 42 to indexer 44, along line 46 to request handler 48, and along line 50 for broadcast at 52 (see FIG. 1). Prior to this transfer, the .pdf
file is assigned a unique filename for storage on host database 40. This unique filename is used for cross-reference purposes.
Assuming that host 16 receives about 200 pieces of investment research per day with an average size of 10 pages (8 pages of text and 2 pages of bit-mapped graphics), host database 40 will require about 25 gigabytes of storage to archive each
years' worth of investment research. This average piece of research may be transmitted over telephone lines, for example from author station 20 to host 16, in about 3 minutes at 14.4 kbps.
It is understood that host 16 may comprise a stand-alone PC or workstation, a mainframe, or a LAN or other installation of multiple interconnected computers. Preferably, host 16 is a network of Sun Sparcstation 1000 systems connected by optical
fiber to an array of storage devices for data transfer at rates of 25 Mb/s full duplex.
Referring now to FIG. 4, operation of indexer 44 is illustrated. Indexer 44 performs two functions, each represented by a block on FIG. 4. These functions are performed by software run on a computer linked to or the same as that used for
validation. The first piece of software, or function of indexer 44, extracts text at 54 from the .pdf files and headline and fields of the .key files of each piece of investment research. In this regard, the headline and field information may be
word-searched as well as the investment research text itself. Software for extracting ASCII information from the .pdf file is available from Adobe Systems and is licensed for use in system 10. To this ASCII information is appended the ASCII from the
.key file headlines and fields.
Next, each word of the extracted ASCII is indexed for searching at 56 by full text engine software available from Fulcrum of Ottawa, Canada. In addition to word searching, Fulcrum also provides the capability of field searching the contents of
.key files. This is accomplished by indexing the fields in addition to the words for each piece of investment research. These indices are transferred along line 58 for storage on host database 40 in conjunction with the unique file name associated with
the .pdf file for each piece of investment research, so that identification of either index during a search will permit retrieval of the corresponding .pdf file.
Referring now to FIG. 6, the function and operation of request handler 48 is illustrated. As with other functions of host 16, request handler 48 may comprise software running on a computer or network connected to host database 40 and possibly
also including validation and indexing software. Validated .key files pass along line 46 to request handler 48, and the headlines and entitlement information are removed at 60 for storage on host database 40 along line 62. It is understood that the
headlines and entitlement information are stored in conjunction with the unique file name associated with the .pdf file for each piece of investment research, such that all information stored regarding a piece of investment research may be retrieved by
identifying either the headline or an index therefor.
At 64, request handler 48 compares entitlement information to an investor profile 66 previously received from a view station 68 and stored on host database 40. By "entitlement" information is meant a broker's or analyst's list of which
institutions are permitted access to its investment research and which are not. Investor profile 66 is an indication of the investment research of interest to a particular institutional investor 12 or portfolio manager 70 (see FIG. 1). Comparing the
entitlement information to the identity of all investors submitting profiles, request handler 48 generates instructions at 64 regarding which investors are permitted to store and access each piece of investment research and which investors are not.
Also, comparing the headlines to the investor profiles, request handler 48 generates instructions at 64 regarding which headlines to display on which author stations or terminals for notifying portfolio managers of receipt of investment research of
interest to the portfolio managers. Headlines will only be displayed for notifying portfolio managers if the institution is entitled to access the research. The remote storage and headline display instructions, and the headline are passed along line 72
to the appropriate view stations 68 for execution upon receipt of the corresponding .pdf files for each piece of investment research. To assume prompt transmission of these instructions to view stations 68, line 72 is preferably a dedicated open channel
for receipt of host 16 communications.
As with author stations 20, view stations 68 are located at investor locations remote from the host and may comprise a stand-alone PC or workstat | | |
