Developments at Assent LLC

aeliodon · Mar 1, 2007

I'm trying to learn more about Assent.

My questions:

1. Why did SunGard buy Assent? SunGard seems to be in a totally different industry and business model? They describe themselves as "a global leader in software and processing solutions for financial services, higher education and the public sector"

2. SunGard was then acquired by a bunch of private equity firms for $11 billion. From the SunGard website:
"The acquiring consortium was organized by Silver Lake Partners and includes Bain Capital, The Blackstone Group, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., Providence Equity Partners and Texas Pacific Group."

3. How will SunGard and its PE owners react to today's insider trading scandal? The two guys from Assent implicated seem to be big fish at the firm.

brandon12 · Mar 1, 2007

i have a retail account with assent and its sipc insured so i have no worries. it wouldn't suprise me if assent is sold by sunguard just as etrade sold etrade pro. thats why one has sipc insurance. even though assent the company wasn't involved it gives them a black eye

aeliodon · Mar 2, 2007

Quote from brandon12:

i have a retail account with assent and its sipc insured so i have no worries. it wouldn't suprise me if assent is sold by sunguard just as etrade sold etrade pro. thats why one has sipc insurance. even though assent the company wasn't involved it gives them a black eye

There is no way your account with Assent is SPIC insured unless you're getting 4-1 leverage.

brokerboy · Mar 2, 2007

There are a lot of guys that have retail accounts at Assent. I would think they are held to a retail account standards. There are also non 7 prop guys with private capital LLCâs there. They save on the registration and exchange fees that way.

cstfx · Mar 2, 2007

Quote from brokerboy:

There are a lot of guys that have retail accounts at Assent. I would think they are held to a retail account standards. There are also non 7 prop guys with private capital LLCâs there. They save on the registration and exchange fees that way.

But what kind of leverage does their retail accounts get? Just the standard 4-1?

cstfx · Mar 2, 2007

Quote from brokerboy:

There are a lot of guys that have retail accounts at Assent. I would think they are held to a retail account standards. There are also non 7 prop guys with private capital LLCâs there. They save on the registration and exchange fees that way.

But what kind of leverage does their retail accounts get? Just the standard 4-1?

aeliodon · Mar 2, 2007

Quote from brandon12:

it wouldn't suprise me if assent is sold by sunguard just as etrade sold etrade pro.

Etrade Pro was just a small operation. I don't think you can compare Assent which is a Broker and Clearing Firm with 28 offices with Etrade Pro which was a small time prop operation.

aeliodon · Mar 2, 2007

As far as SunGard selling Assent, I don't know. I'd like to know why it got acquired in the first place. I'm guessing it got acquired for its technology. I doubt SunGard or its PE owners have any interest in the prop trading operations.
And the whole franchise model seems weird. You can have one bad franchise owner doing shady stuff like one of the guys that got implicated in the insider trading scandal - and that gives the entire firm a bad name not to mention puts them at legal risk.
Iâm sure SunGard and the PE firms have plans for Assent down the road â which may positively or negatively affect Assent traders.

kowboy · Mar 2, 2007

Quote from cstfx:

But what kind of leverage does their retail accounts get? Just the standard 4-1?

What are you looking to do? Retail or Prop?

Retail account: 4:1

Other than short term negative press, how is the effect on Assent any different than on the other firms- Morgan Stanley, BA, UBS?

cstfx · Mar 2, 2007

Quote from kowboy:

What are you looking to do? Retail or Prop?

Retail account: 4:1

Other than short term negative press, how is the effect on Assent any different than on the other firms- Morgan Stanley, BA, UBS?

Obviously I would want the leverage of prop, but don't want to go the registered rep route. Not what I am looking for at this time.

Looking at their web page, what is the difference between prop account and retail Main/Sub-LLC accounts? I thought LLC's and subLLC's were what prop firms were. Pardon the ignorance, but don't know that much about prop service - haven't traded equities in nearly 2 decades and just getting back into it. Thx.