UNIQUE INNOVATION FROM TOUCHSTONE FINANCIAL ANALYTICS EMPOWERS FINANCIAL SERVICES PROVIDERS

New web tool delivers ‘actionable’ IFA data in real-time, enabling providers to better plan, execute and measure intermediary distribution strategies

London, 10th May 2012 - Equifax’s Touchstone Financial Analytics has launched an innovative new solution for life, pension, investment, platform and mortgage providers. The next generation Touchstone solution, designed in partnership with Equifax’s award winning US wealth business, IXI, provides unprecedented insight into IFA distribution in the UK.

Giving remote access to the most comprehensive database of IFA intelligence, collected by Touchstone from over 90 providers and 11,000 IFAs, the new Touchstone solution comes at a crucial time for the financial services industry. In particular it leverages, and directly translates to the UK, IXI’s 15 years experience in developing online financial analytics tools. Notably, IXI analyses data from 95 leading US financial institutions, handling $10 trillion in anonymous consumer assets and investments that represent more than 42% of all US consumer invested assets.

“Everyone knows that RDR will be a game-changer”, explains Neil Cunningham, Touchstone Financial Analytics Director & General Manager. “Being prepared for that new environment is absolutely crucial to every company operating in the UK financial services marketplace.”

“The financial services arena is increasingly swamped with data. The ability to transform that data from being simply ‘information’ into actionable insights that will drive business forward is the real challenge we hear from our clients. Our goal was, therefore, to create an intuitive web based tool that enables our clients to make better informed decisions.”

The new Touchstone solution provides a unique, market leading combination of intuitive ‘train of thought’ dashboards and advanced custom analytics. Utilising the latest web technology, it provides actionable data remotely via any browser or smartphone.

Key features include:

• Intuitive dashboards for sales & marketing users
• Advanced reporting capability for market analysts
• Dynamic quadrant analysis
• ‘Real time’ updating of sales panels
• Proprietary Google Maps integration
• IFA mailing campaign generator
• Seamless CRM integration
• Instantly create PDFs and circulate reports around an IFA business
• Facility to customise, save and retrieve reports

“We already have the most comprehensive coverage of the UK intermediary market, directly measured from over 90 product providers and 11,000 IFAs” added Neil Cunningham. “To now be in a position to overlay that data with a sophisticated tool that leverages the market leading technology and design experience of our US wealth business, IXI, will help bring the data to life for our clients.”

“We believe it will empower providers in a way no other solution has been able to until now, and will be absolutely vital in the run-up to the RDR deadline at the end of this year.”

To find out more, customers can contact Touchstone on 01236 722 000 or email touchstone@equifax.com

Please click on the link below to download accompanying report
Touchstone Financial Analytics Web Launch

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About Equifax

Equifax is a global leader in consumer and commercial information solutions, providing businesses of all sizes and consumers with information they can trust. We organize and assimilate data on more than 500 million consumers and 81 million businesses worldwide, and use advanced analytics and proprietary technology to create and deliver customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax operates or has investments in 17 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500® Index. Its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. For more information, please visit www.equifax.com.

Touchstone Financial Analytics and IXI

Touchstone is the UK’s leading provider of strategic IFA intelligence to financial product providers, delivering powerful benefits to its users. It operates a shared investment product data exchange with information provided by over 90 of the UK’s leading financial services companies. It also operates the MyTouchstone database which is powered by the collective sales data of 77 major product providers, fund managers and platforms and inputs from thousands of IFAs to help IFAs understand how they perform compared to the other IFAs in their post area and across the UK.

Equifax Inc acquired US wealth data specialist, IXI, at the end of 2009. The IXI Corporation has been directly-measuring consumer wealth in the U.S. for the past 15 years.

The unique combination of Touchstone Financial Analytics and IXI is set to bring an unparalleled understanding of consumer wealth and purchase behaviour to the UK for the first time.