FactSet

FactSet is a financial research company that offers risk analytics tools and real-time data feeds for institutional investors. FactSet consolidates all the tools you need to monitor global markets, public and private companies, and equity and fixed-income portfolios in a single intuitive interface. 

With FactSet, the client can gain powerful analytics tailored to their workflow, the broadest scope of data available, and access to industry-leading client service. FactSet's solutions are designed to fit seamlessly into the workflow of financial professionals, with a wide selection of customizable reports and charts that are relevant to a number of job functions.

1978: FactSet was founded by Howard Wille and Chuck Snyder.

1981: The company released its first client terminal, which connected a subscriber to FactSet's mainframe computers and allowed it to use the Company FactSet report. Snyder found a way to download data from the FactSet computer into Visicalc, meaning that clients could retrieve data from a database directly into a spreadsheet.

1982: In order to better serve customers, Snyder did some reverse engineering on VisiCalc, the first in a generation of spreadsheets, and developed a way that FactSet databases could directly populate the cells of a subscriber's spreadsheet.

1983: The company made this feature available to Lotus 1-2-3, which was eclipsing VisiCalc in spreadsheet popularity.

1985: Current Chairman Philip A. Hadley joined the company as a consultant.

1988: Along the way, FactSet increased the speed of delivery, adopting the use of 9600 modems, quaint in terms of broadband hundreds of times faster a decade later, but an impressive improvement at the time.

1989: A year later he became vice president of sales, then became senior vice-president and director of sales and marketing, a post he held until ascending to the top of the organization.

1990: FactSet for Windows was released.

1991: FactSet was made available on the increasingly popular Windows platform.

1993: A London office opened, the first in Europe.

1995: The company also changed its name in June, becoming FactSet Research Systems Inc. in preparation for becoming a public company. A Tokyo office opened. The company recorded sales of $36.2 million and a net income of nearly $5 million. By the end of the year, FactSet had less than 400 customers, but they included 84 of the United States' top investment managers.

1996: The company released Portfolio Management Workstation, empowering global portfolio managers with a host of specialized tools. The company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FDS.

1997: Also FactSet became more user-friendly with the launch of Company Explorer.

1998: Offices in Hong Kong and Sydney, Australia, were opened. The product became easier to use, with the release of the DIRECTIONS interface and the addition of Online Assistant, a web-based help and reference tool.

1999: Boston office and training centre also was added. He took over a company with 764 clients and more than 25,000 users, generating $103.8 million in sales and $18.6 million in earnings in 1999. FactSet introduced 24-hour live telephone support.

2000: Wille retired as CEO and chairman in May, and Snyder stepped in as CEO on an interim basis, serving until September of that year, when Hadley was named the new CEO and chairman. After being in business for more than 20 years, FactSet completed its first acquisition, paying close to $10 million for Innovative Systems Techniques, Inc., picking up the Vision Technology database management product, and thus providing subscribers with advanced data analysis tools.

2004: FactSet also expanded its European business by acquiring the JFC Group of companies for $60.4 million. "Snyder Gift Is Largest in the School's History," Western Reserve Academy Campaign Update, Winter. The company's sell-side platform, IBCentral was released.

2008: FactSet acquired a copy of the Thomson Reuters WorldScope database, which it develops and markets as FactSet Fundamentals.

2009: FactSet combined its DIRECTIONS, Marquee, and IBCentral platforms into one product, called FactSet.

2010: In January, FactSet and FirstRain announced a partnership that would allow FactSet clients to access FirstRain's web research engine that finds, filters, and analyzes unstructured business data available online. In June, FactSet acquired Market Metrics, a market research firm situated in the United States that is solely focused on surveys conducted on advisors and insurance products.

2012: In June, FactSet acquired StreetAccount, which provides real-time company updates, portfolio and sector filtering, email alerts, and market summaries for investment professionals.

2013: FactSet acquired Revere Data, a provider of a line-of-business industry taxonomy, now branded FactSet Revere.

2015: On February 9, FactSet acquired Code Red Inc, a provider of Research Management technology to the financial community.

2016: In December, FactSet acquired Vermilion, a client reporting software, and CYMBA Technologies, an order management system (OMS) provider.

2017: On March 20, FactSet acquired BISAM, a performance and risk provider, strengthening its coverage of critical workflows throughout the portfolio lifecycle.

2020: FactSet acquired Truvalue Labs, a pioneer in AI-driven environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data.

2021: On December 20, FactSet joined the S&P 500.

To help the performance of investment professionals throughout the world by providing analytical insight gleaned from raw financial data.

Factset aims to consolidate financial data from multiple financial resources into a single platform. Using the collected data, the company also provides analytical insight to help investment professionals enhance their investing performance.