Why Symphony has not turned into a “Bloomberg killer”

Oscar Williams-Grut of Business Insider examines how well Symphony, which launched in 2015 as a competitor to the Bloomberg terminal, is faring.

Williams-Grut writes, “Touted as a ‘Bloomberg killer’ in the press when it launched, Symphony is headed by a long-time communication industry veteran and has raised almost $300 million from a host of bluechip backers. The company has offices around the world and over 300,000 users today.

“But questions remain about who is using and for what. One of the main reasons banks wanted the project to succeed was to cut down on their expensive $24,000-a-year Bloomberg habit. But analysts and traders told Business Insider that traders are reluctant to give up their terminals. Back office staff are adopting Symphony but they didn’t have Bloomberg terminals in the first place. As a result, some of the savings hoped for aren’t materializing.

“Symphony hopes ‘bots’ on its platform and continued support from the banks who have invested can help it overcome this hurdle. But in the meantime, it is looking to other markets to help support its reported $1 billion valuation.”

Read more here.