Backstop vs. FactSet Workstation

Backstop makes planning and selecting the portfolio efficiently. There is a candid assistance in matters of resource utilization. Moreso, Backstop has a cost accounting notion, which makes the company control the expenses they make. Finally, Backstop has classical research procedures where analysis and decisions arrive after extensive assistance and evaluations.

Incentivized

As an equity focused investment manager, it is a great all-in-one platform to work from. It solves all our needs for data and Excel integration, modeling, news, market research, economic research and other investment research work. If you are a day trader, its maybe not as useful, but for a manager with normal turnover, it works great

Incentivized

• Storage of notes from calls and meetings.
• Tracking portfolio holding balances, transactions, and IRRs/MOICs.
• Allowing flexibility for client-defined uses.

Incentivized

• Easy/clear UI for navigation
• Easily find and sort through financial filings to get to the data
• Document search functionality seems to be improving consistently with more robust features

Incentivized

• Poor communication procedures
• Lack of specific OS support
• No mobile version for Backstop

Incentivized

• Excel add-in formulas are not constructed in an intuitive way and too often require assistance from help desk
• No chat function for help desk, which means delayed assistance time or talking with non-native English speakers, some of whom can be difficult to understand
• There should be an AI chatbot that can answer routine queries; for more advanced questions, a human rep can be connected
• Portfolio performance metrics should be downloadable using Excel add-in rather than being available only on Workstation

Incentivized

We need the FactSet data and capabilities to complete 75% of the financial analyses that we complete for both internal and external purposes. It is invaluable and I am not aware of any other provider that would be able to fill this gap that FactSet does

Incentivized

FactSet Workstation offers a plethora of tools that I don't find I often use daily; however, the overall usability of the product is very user-friendly. As an example, I often use the search bar at the top of the workstation to find a specific metric I might need in a flash. The company frequently checks in through surveys and user feedback to identify areas where they can improve the usability and experience.

Incentivized

Backstop support is fantastic. They always pick up the phone without a wait and are highly knowledgeable, I rarely need more than 5 minutes to fix an issue.

Incentivized

I think the data delivery could be improved, but it's a good data set.

Incentivized

I have not used or evaluated any Backstop competitors. Freestone already used Backstop when I started.

Incentivized

Bloomberg has more info/data than FactSet Workstation which I pointed out earlier. To be fair, I believe Bloomberg is more expensive. Refinitiv - I have used Thomson Reuters Eikon in the past and I did not like the inflexible interface, FactSet Workstation is much more flexible. To be fair, Refinitiv may have made some upgrades since but my mental impression still lean towards FactSet Workstation because of ease of use.

Incentivized

• Business ends up profiting
• The chances of investing in the wrong projects don't exist
• The analytical assistance from Backstop increases more investment plans

Incentivized

• We were able to end contracts with a few vendors because FactSet provided everything we need for stock screening, modeling, and analytics directly saving us capital that could be repurposed elsewhere
• Having a an all in one system that does everything speeds up training and learning curve for users
• Cheaper than main competitor Bloomberg

Incentivized