POWERING INDEX TRANSPARENCY WITH BENZAITEN
Executive Summary
A leading global asset manager partnered with Element22 to transform how it manages index data sourcing and licensing. By leveraging Element22’s Benzaiten platform, the firm gained a unified, transparent view of all index products across multiple vendors, uncovering redundancies, improving governance, and enabling smarter, cost-efficient data procurement decisions.
Client Background
The client is a global leader in multi-asset investing and advisory solutions. The organization sought to gain better visibility into its index data licensing landscape, which involved multiple data vendors and overlapping agreements. Element22 was engaged to bring structure, transparency, and optimization to this environment using its technology and domain expertise.
Challenges Faced
Over time, the firm’s index data sourcing had grown decentralized, spanning several providers such as Refinitiv, Confluence, Rimes, and MSCI. Each vendor contract carried its own terms, data sets, and delivery mechanisms, leading to duplication and a lack of holistic oversight. Without a centralized framework, identifying overlaps or evaluating true data value became difficult. Procurement and data teams relied on manual effort, limiting their ability to control spend or negotiate effectively. The organization needed a clear, unified approach to rationalize its index product portfolio and streamline cost management.
Solutions Implemented
Centralized Visibility through Benzaiten – Implemented Benzaiten as the single source of truth for all index licensing and usage data, offering a real-time, consolidated view across providers.
Comprehensive Index Inventory & Mapping – Cataloged all indices across vendors and mapped them to identify content overlaps, redundancies, and potential areas for consolidation.
License Harmonization & Standardization – Simplified contract structures and aligned entitlements across vendors, reducing complexity and enabling a unified licensing model.
Overlap Analytics & Insights – Leveraged Benzaiten’s analytics to identify where identical or similar index data was purchased multiple times. These insights guided vendor consolidation and future cost optimization strategies.
Results and Impact
Unified Transparency: Established a single, comprehensive view of all index data sources and contracts.
Identified Redundancies: Revealed overlapping licenses and redundant purchases, highlighting actionable opportunities for cost reduction.
Stronger Vendor Management: Enabled more informed negotiations and portfolio consolidation decisions through improved insights.
Enhanced Data Governance: Built a scalable framework for ongoing oversight of data usage, compliance, and cost efficiency.
Conclusion
Element22’s collaboration modernized the client’s approach to market data procurement. By combining deep domain expertise with its Benzaiten technology, Element22 helped achieve greater visibility, control, and long-term efficiency in managing index data. This engagement illustrates how technology-enabled consulting can drive measurable improvements in cost optimization, governance, and vendor transparency for leading financial institutions.