Cfinancials
Big Data Technology for Investor Protection

Cfinancials.com, A revolution in the world of finance

Genilem - Créateurs: March 2010

Information technology offers a new way of presenting financial data. The Cfinancials.com platform now provides free access to 6.9 million financial products and their specifications (prices, descriptions, underlying assets, etc.) with just a few clicks. A world première.

After developing the concept and software for three years, Cfinancials SA was founded in February 2009 by a specialist in banking and finance, thereby revolutionising the online accessibility of financial products from all over the world.

During my fifteen years working in investment and private banking, I identified a genuine need for comprehensive lists of the products that are available to customers. As a trader and then investment manager, I spent more time looking for products than actually dealing with them or offering them, explains Cfinancials' founder. Finally, with the collaboration of several partners, I took the opportunity to respond to this requirement with the Cfinancials business proposal.

The largest database in the world

Cfinancials developed its Web platform in close collaboration with two giants of the financial sector: Thomson Reuters and SIX Telekurs. The database's information also comes from Dow Jones News and private companies. The result is impressive: Cfinancials has created the largest online database that includes almost all the financial products in the world. Add to this a search engine with advanced features and a specialised work tool, and you get a platform that is unrivalled in terms of performance and functionality.
Following our early contact with banks, I identified another possibility that could be developed. The banks wanted to integrate the database into their internal systems, so that they could use it to establish graphs, comparisons, correlations, etc. and then customize the documents that they had created before passing them on to their customers (adding their logo, etc.). I therefore proposed a more modern and more efficient approach with a customized access to Cfinancials.com that satisfied their internal requirements. In short, Cfinancials.com has become a shared, outsourced work tool, explains the director.

Transparency and raw data

The traditional search tools for financial products that are currently available only provide information about the products of the company that sells them. Cfinancials' uniqueness and strength lies in the fact that it provides factual information from all sources, presented in an unprocessed, transparent manner, without interpretation or commentary. This is primarily a tool for both the general public and finance professionals who can carry out their own analyses of products listed in the database.

A Google-inspired business model ?

In the words of an article in the AGEFI on 11 January 2010, we can confirm that this is the startup that intends to become the Google of finance. It therefore comes as no surprise that Cfinancials' business model bears a close resemblance to that of billionaires Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Advertising, new product announcements, ranking in the search engine, sponsorship links, and sales of statistics are the company's main sources of revenue. We have become familiar with the expression,  Google it! in the context of basic internet searches; it may not be long before Cfinancials it! is adopted by the world of finance.

Cfinancials SA

  • Database and search engine.
  • Gradual opening to the public from 2010.
  • Free, open access.
  • Nearly 7 million products listed (stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, structured products, securitized debt, credit derivatives, etc.).
  • 3.5 billion values updated daily.