The Assent Clearing Support Group works very hard behind the scenes to make sure that our clearing operations run smoothly. Our support group includes dedicated client service professionals, database administrators, risk management review specialists, application developers and quality control specialists.
Our hardworking support staff makes sure that the millions of transactions originated within the ranks of our trading community are posted to the appropriate clearance and settlement systems, in a timely manner. They also make sure that our clearing site (www.assentclearing.com) is dynamically updated throughout the course of the day and is available early in the morning so traders can properly verify their start of day positions, P & L and available buying power.
To ensure that the servers which hold the data depicted on the various clearing reports perform optimally, we only keep data from the previous four months on our Clearing website. Records for periods beyond four months are available via a written request to the Branch Office Manager supervising your account.
To the right is a group shot of just some of these professionals, as recently taken. Assisting them are many other colleagues working hard to make sure that the Assent Clearing Group remains a key part of the overall successful trading experience available to the members of the Assent LLC trading community.
The reports that are illustrated on the Assent clearing site are drawn from our books and records processing systems. As such, please keep in mind that they can differ from our front - end trading systems, for purposeful and logical reasons. For example, during the course of the day, the trading system will calculate immediate, dynamic profit and loss totals which may not reflect all of the specific details that the transaction will subsequently reflect when it's completed and processed.
For example, a transaction carried out during the course of the day will be posted to our front - end ANVIL platform, and at that point, it may not reflect such details as certain regulatory fees, commission and/or order routing charges, etc. Please note that these elements are typically added only after the trade is fully processed through our Clearance systems.
When reviewing reports and data posted to our clearing site, it is very important to alert your Branch Office Manager immediately if you believe there are any inaccuracies. Your Branch Office Manager should always be your primary liaison to us for any such questions or concerns you may have.
Please see below for some FAQ's Concerning Clearing Support and the Clearing Reports.
CLEARING REPORTS - FAQ'S
I’m a new customer and I’ve never accessed the Clearing Site before and I have a few questions about accessing the reports:
Who sets up my initial password to access the daily trader reports and other information on the clearing site?
Branch Office Managers and/or their pre-authorized designees are allowed to set up your initial password
Is my initial user ID my Assent account #?
Yes. For customer accounts the first five (5) digits of the main account are the user ID. For proprietary accounts your user ID would be the 8 digit account #.
If I want to change my user ID and/or Password on my own, what’s the procedure for doing so?
User ID's must be changed at the home office. Such requests, should they become necessary, must be made to the Hoboken Clearing Support Group, at assent.clearingsupp@sungard.com. The requests will then be forwarded to appropriate personnel for authorization.
If I wanted to give access to my clearing account to another person, for example my accountant, can I get an assentclearing.com user name and password set up for them? How?
No, for data security objectives and to remain consistent with our Privacy Policy, Assent LLC only assigns user ID's and access passwords to valid account holders only.
Generally speaking, when are the reports available for me to review before the start of a new day’s trading session?
Reports are typically available at or prior to 7 AM (EST). In most cases, they're updated a few hours before 7 AM.
Are there periods of time where the Assent Clearing website is not available?
Generally speaking, our site is always available with the exception of some periodic maintenance we carry out on the servers that we host the site on.
How far back can I access history records for my account?
In order to keep the site performing optimally, we typically keep approximately four (4) months worth of report data hosted on the site. If necessary, we can assist you in retrieving historical data that goes back for longer than the period of time we keep it accessible through the site. If you need to access such historical data, please contact your Branch Office Manager. Please keep in mind that there may be a service fee involved in retrieving certain historical data.
Are there specific differences with reports from a customer versus proprietary trader account perspective?
Generally no, but we'd encourage you to review a summary of the various reports that we make available. You can access that write-up here.
Do the realized gain/loss reports use a certain accounting methodology? If so, can such designations be changed?
At present, the Assent realized gain/loss reports use the "HIFO" methodology. As additional preference methodologies are supported, we will query our client base to determine if newly supporting such methodologies (such as HICO or FIFO) results in requests to apply such to underlying accounts. Until then, the HIFO method is applied.
I already have special permission to maintain more than one trading account. Is there a way that I, on my own, can generate consolidated reports that aggregate the data together?
At present, for security reasons, individual users and/or their Branch Office Manager cannot create consolidated report views. However, upon authorized requests, it may be possible under certain circumstances for authorized home office personnel to create some "ad hoc" views of consolidated reports. Contact your Branch Office Manager for any additional details.
During the course of the trading day, I was routed to a few different servers. I had to log off and log back on again changing the destination server I was pointing to. Will that have any impact on the reports I see? Will all of my activity and positions be shown correctly on one report in the clearing system?
No. Our trade processing routines are structured in such a manner that it doesn't matter --- from a clearance perspective --- on which server your transactions originated from.
I went to my Branch Office Manager to explain to him/(her)that there are certain times I may want to hold on to a given position for a few days, instead of ending the day flat. I know that doing so will impact my available buying power. That said, even though I want to hold this position for a bit, I want to separate that position from other activity I initiate on a given day. Is it possible to earmark certain positions so that they don’t show up on the various P & L type reports I can access? How does this process work? What do I need to know?
The data reflected on the reports available through our Clearing site represents official records of the firm. While there are some tools potentially available on the front - end to mark certain positions with some special "view conditions" these tools are not applied nor available to applications such as the Clearing Site, that are drawn from official books and records sources.
During the course of the trading day, as executions are being filled, will they be posted to the reports on the clearing site, or must I wait until the following morning?
During the course of the trading day, as a convenience to our clients, we regularly post trades to our clearing site. But, please keep in mind that certain aspects of these trades will be completed later on, during the nightly processing schedule. In other words, when we post same day, intra - day trades to the clearing site, it's done on a gross p & l basis, meaning that the charges for commissions, SEC fees and other such components will be added later.
During the course of the trading day, my ANVIL software calculates a running P & L total, but those numbers seem to change somewhat when I review my clearing reports the next morning. Why?
The answer is really the same as the above. Intra - day, trades are illustrated on a gross p & l basis. After the trading session is over, and before the next day's trading commences, we'll load in the missing data (commissions, SEC fees, other fees, etc...) to facilitate new p & l computations.
I supervise traders. What do I need to do in order to be able to access their clearing reports? When a new trader comes into my group, is there a way I can have automatic access to their reports? Can I run certain reports that combine the activity and totals as a group?
The answer depends upon whether a separate, new branch code was established for the group. If the trading group operates under its own branch code, then our access hierarchy will facilitate your access automatically if you are in fact the authorized Branch Office Manager and/or referring member. If that is not the case, under certain circumstances we may be able to set up certain ad hoc report creation routines, depending upon how many traders are in the group and what branch codes are involved.
I’m a Branch Office Manager of a branch where there are several underlying branch codes set up for the various groups of traders here. Is my Branch Office Manager clearing user ID and PW set up to automatically have access to all of the branch codes in this branch, and then by extension, all of the accounts/trader ID’s that make up each branch code? What should I do if a new branch code is created down the line, when a new trading group, for example, comes aboard?
Branch Office Managers should be sure to send a confirmation e-mail to assent.clearingsupp@sungard.com confirming that the new branch code has now been added and clarify which supervisory personnel from the branch need access to the reports for the traders associated with the new branch.
Some of the reports I’m looking to view are really large in size. Is it possible to have a CD prepared for me and send it to me? If so, is there a fee involved?
As we've stressed, requests should always be directed to us by and from your Branch Office Manager. Whether or not there will be a service fee involved in satisfying your request, is dependent upon several factors, such as data accessibility, length of the time period associated with the request and the like. We'll review the particulars with your Branch Office Manager.
In working with the reports that are available to me, I’ve come up with some suggestions that I think could improve some of them, but I’ve got some detailed questions I’d like to ask of the “experts”. Who can I speak to?
We are always happy to hear from our clients, including report feedback and suggestions. If you'd like to learn more about certain reports, or ask questions, or make suggestions to enhance the reports, we would strongly encourage you to have your Branch Office Manager send an e-mail to assent.clearingsupp@sungard.com
I just set up a brand new computer, do I have to change anything with my clearing access ID or password to continue to access them?
No, you would not, assuming that the new computer has been set up already with Adobe PDF Acrobat Reader/Writer and Excel type applications.
I’ve looked over my monthly statement and/or 1099 and notice some transactions that I don’t think were posted correctly. How can I go about getting them adjusted?
As we've stated before, your Branch Office Manager should ALWAYS the focal point. Immediately contact him/her should you have any concerns about ANY activity, positions and balances posted to your account.
I'm not clear on where/how I'd best be able to see my equity figures. Can you clarify this for me?
The Clearance Activity Report and Trader Balance Reports will provide such information. However, if you're a Branch Office Manager and/or referring member, you must structure your query accordingly.
Where can I see the cost basis for my Open Positions?
The Clearance Activity Report provides this information.
I see some securities noted on my reports with one or two asterisks, or what looks like a partial CUSIP # instead of its customary stock symbol. What does that mean?
Typically, this signifies that the security is involved in, or is associated in some fashion, with a pending corporate action such as a merger, stock split, tender offer, etc. When such pending corporate actions are applicable, there may be special valuation considerations that may impact the overall share or monetary balance on your account. Your Branch Office Manager should be able to clarify any questions you might have. If not, they'll assist you in speaking to the appropriate home office support personnel.
For corporate actions, what date is used to post the additional shares or funds involved?
We typically credit/debit share quantities and/or funds on the date such are actually payable (not the ex date, or announcement date, etc).
My Clearance Activity Reports reflect “as of” transactions. Is there anything I should be aware of for “as of” transactions?
"As of" transactions could become applicable for a variety of reasons. An execution venue or exchange can retroactively declare previously executed transactions as erroneous trades and end up "busting" such transactions. Or other such reconciliation related scenarios can result in trades being posted to your account on an as of basis. In the event that it becomes necessary to post one or more "as of" trades to your account, it will update the positions and balances effective with the actual date that such trades were posted to your account. In other words, when there are "as of" trades that must be posted, we won't go back and retroactively re-compute what the balance or share quantity 'should have been" for that date, we'll adjust the applicable components when the data is ready for actual posting to our books and records.
