The Factset guys stumble through the platform the same way I would if I just tried to figure it out myself. Also, anytime I reach out to the help desks with a question or when they have reps come down to our office, the BB guys just seem way more knowledgeable about the platform than the Factset guys. In my opinion its worth paying the extra. If I were running a shop there's no question I would want my guys on Bloomberg, if I was running a public fund I would feel disadvantaged on any other platform. I find things like that more and more as I go through Factset and our tech guy said one company he was looking at had the wrong company's segment data linked up. I'll give you one fresh example: Both offer supply chain breakdowns but if Bloomberg has 20 suppliers listed, Factset will have 7 for the same company. Bloomberg is the gold standard and is just better in almost every facet with exception to the portfolio analytics, which I agree Factset seems to be better. But when you look at it on a relative basis it sucks. I don't have any direct insight into the costs (been told Factset is significantly cheaper) but I'll say this about Factset, if you've never experienced Bloomberg its fine. Originally it started as we were going to Factset because their performance reporting and portfolio analytics were better, but I think we're moving over because it is cheaper. We're currently switching from Bloomberg to Factset. I can only offer my opinion on Factset vs Bloomberg. it allows easy and reliable comparison of products in a pretty, sales friendly product. Morningstar Direct is for the wholesalers. Even generating data that would take two seconds in Bloomberg take long enough for you to get a cup of coffee in FactSet. It provides the most customization and the most robust backtesting tools, but it is SLOW. If you need something RIGHT NOW it has to be Bloomberg. It provides the fastest data and the best news.
I think the annual bill for my FactSet services is higher than the one for my terminal. The base program is significantly cheaper than Bloomberg, but there are a significant number of add-in modules that carry significant extra cost. (Think S&P, MSCI, FTSE indexes, etc.) FactSet is a la carte. This includes everything except certain third party feeds that they don't own the rights to. Are there any sites / platforms that offer slices of Bloomberg functionality for a slice of the Bloomberg price? I am hoping to cobble together an acceptable set of subscriptions for a couple grand / yr and let them know I'd need it.īloomberg is one, all-in price for the service, $2k/mo from what I hear.
These are things I have access to at my current firm and I would hate to part with them. I want to be able to quickly access historical yield curves, equity prices, relative valuation, equity financials, would love to have the sell-side view on specific equities, etc etc etc. I do need data though if I'm to manage this portfolio. One concern I have regards research platforms - I highly doubt they are aware of what Bloomberg or Factset is, and I don't want to demand that they shell out $25k/yr for a subscription while I'm negotiating salary. There are *ton* of risks with taking the job, but I think it might be too sexy to pass up, so I'm leaning towards saying yes if they pick me. I don't know if they'll pick me (it's down to two candidates). Had the second round yesterday it went very well. I'm interviewing for a portfolio management role at an entrepreneurial firm with a large capital float that they use to collateralize their primary business.