United States Patent Barton, III et al.

Transcription

1 Unitd Stats Patnt Barton, III t al. 19 US A 11 Patnt Numbr: 6,026,381 (45) Dat of Patnt: Fb. 15, FINANCIAL MARKET CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM 75 Invntors: Samul G. Barton, III, Washington, D.C.; Madlyn E. Martin, Rston; Arthur T. Rodbll, Grat Falls, both of Va. 73 Assign: ITX Corporation, McLan, Va. 21 Appl. No.: 08/741, Fild: Nov. 5, 1996 (51) Int. Cl."... G06F 17/30 52 U.S. Cl /35; 705/36; 707/ Fild of Sarch /35, 36, 37; 707/1, 2, 10, 3, 102, ) Rfrncs Citd U.S. PATENT DUMENTS 5,517,406 5/1996 Harris t al /408 5,671,363 9/1997 Cristofich t al /237 5,696,961 12/1997 Brisco t al /602 5,701,423 12/1997 Crozir /335 5,765,158 6/1998 Burrows /101 5,771,379 6/1998 Gor, Jr /612 5,781,896 7/1998 Dalal /2 5,794,234 8/1998 Church t al /4 5,809,483 9/1998 Broka t al /37 Primary Examinr Paul V. Kulik Attorny, Agnt, or Firm-Strn, Ksslr, Goldstin & Fox, PL.L.C. 57 ABSTRACT A Systm for classifying invstmnt products into a st of hirarchical buckts basd on xisting CUSIP numbrs and othr prospctus information is disclosd hrin. Abuckt is an invstmnt product classification that uniquly and con Sistntly idntifis an invstmnt product typ. In th pr frrd mbodimnt, thr ar buckts to classify individual Scuritis and mutual funds into product, asst and fund typs. Each buckt is a uniqu combination of product, asst or fund cods. Uniqu combinations of th actual cods dfin a particular buckt. Thus, th prsnt invntion pro vids a Standard classification Systm into which all invst mnt products can b catgorizd and groupd. Thr Sts of hirarchical invstmnt buckts ar cratd to provid a Standard St of both gnral and dtaild invstmnt buckts. Each St of buckts is dirctd to a Spcific classification purpos: a st of product buckts, a St of asst buckts, and a st of fund buckts. Th prsnt invntion uss CUSIP numbrs as th kys for aggrgating Scuritis into a stan dard St of product buckts, asst buckts and fund buckts. Th prsnt invntion uss th Standard product buckts, asst buckts and fund buckts to classify invstmnt posi tions. 9 Claims, 18 Drawing Shts OPEN RAW POSITION TEXT FILES PRESS INTO POSITION DATABASE 5O2 500 ID UNIOUE COMBINATIONS OF ACCOUNT AND PRODUCT INFORMATION IN THE POSITION DATABASE AND CREATE SUMMARY DATABASE OF UNIQUE COMBINATIONS 504 CROSS REFERENCE SUMMARY POSITION DATABASE WITH KNOWN WALID COMBINATIONS TO IDENTIFY NEW COMBINATIONS AND ERRAN RECORDS RECODE THE POSITION DATABASE WITH FUND, PRODUCT AND ASSET BUCKET CODES FROM THE CUSIP DAABASE s RECODE THE CUSIP CLASSIFICATION FIE WITH INVESTMENT PRODUCT BUCKETS COMPRESS THE POSITION DATABASE BY SUMMARIZING MULTIPLE RECORDS INTO SINGE RECORDS BASED ON DESIRED ANALYSIS FIELDS 512 COMBINE ALL POSITION DATABASES INTOGRANDFILE-51 FOR USE BY ANALYSIS TOOLS

2 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 1 of 18 6,026,381 FIG 1 LIPECTIVE CUSIP, RELATED BY ON CUSIP NUMBER CUSIP, LIPPER ANALYTICAL SERVICES MUTUAL FUND CODE DATABASE CUSIP CLASSIFICATION FILE FIG 2 SANDARD FUND, IDC IDC PRODUCT AND PROSPECTUS PROSPECTUS ASSET BUCKET CODES MAPPED TOGETHER ON IDC CODES CODES CODES STANDARD FUND, ASSET S PRODUCT BUCKET CODES ARE COPIED INTO THE CUSIP DATABASE FOR MATCHING IDC PROSPECTUS CODES BUCKET DATABASE CUSIP classificatio

3 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 2 of 18 6,026,381 FIG. 3 POSITION INFORMATION CUSIP: UNIQUE COMBINATIONS OF FIELDS SUMMARIZATION PRESS POSITION DATABASE VERIFY SAR VERIFY VALIDITY DATABASES WAY OF DATA OF DATA 3O8 310 CROSS-REFERENCE DATABASES

4 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 3 of 18 6,026,381 FIG. 4 STANDARD FUND, PRODUCT AND ASSEBUCKET CODES CUSIP MAPPED TOGETHER ON CUSIP NUMBER CUSIP, RECODED CUSIP CLASSIFICATION FILE POSITION DATABASE SUMMARIZE POSITION DATABASE SUMMARY POSITION DATABASE

5 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 4 of 18 6,026,381 FIG. 5 OPEN RAW POSITION TEXT FILE SPRESS INTO POSITION DATABASE ID UNIOUE COMBINATIONS OF ACCOUNT AND 504 PRODUCT INFORMATION IN THE POSITION DATABASE AND CREATE SUMMARY DATABASE OF UNIQUE COMBINATIONS CROSS REFERENCE SUMMARY POSITION DATABASE 50 WITH KNOWN WALID COMBINATIONS TO IDENTIFY NEW COMBINATIONS AND ERRANT RECORDS 508 RECODE THE POSITION DATABASE WITH FUND, 50 PRODUCT AND ASSET BUCKET CODES FROM THE CUSIP DATABASE RECODE THE CUSIP CLASSIFICATION FILE WITH INVESTMENT PRODUCT BUCKETS COMPRESS THE POSITION DATABASE BY 52 SUMMARIZING MULTIPLE RECORDS INTO SINGLE RECORDS BASED ON DESIRED ANALYSIS FIELDS COMBINE ALL POSITION DATABASES INTO GRAND FILE-51 FOR USE BY ANALYSIS TOOLS

6 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 5 of 18 FTG. S 6,026,381 READ STRUCTURE DATA DESCRIBING RAW POSITION TEXT FILE O 2 CREATE POSITION DATABASE STRUCTURE BASED ON STRUCTURE DATA 604 APPEND RAW POSITION INFORMATION INTO POSITION DATABASE 606 DO ALL RECORDS HAVE ACCT #2 CREATE AN ACCT. F. FOR RECORDS WITHOUT AN ACCT # 61O 62 FIG DETERMINE THE FIELDS TO BE SUMMARIZED 704 CREATE NEW SUMMARY POSITION DATABASES) FROM SUMMARY FIELDS BY COMPRESSING THE UNIQUE COMBINATIONS OF SUMMARY FIELDS FROM THE POSITION DATABASE TO THE SUMMARY DATABASE (S) 706

7 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 6 of 18 6,026,381 FIG. B FIG O2 RECODE THE PRODUCT PROSPECTUS INFORMATION/100 IN THE CUSIP FILE PRODUCT BUCKET CODES RECODE THE ASSET TYPE INFORMATION IN THE / 1006 CUSIP FILE BASED ON THE FUND S PRODUCT BUCKETS INTO ASSET BUCKET CODES

8 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 7 of 18 6,026,381 FIG. 9 SELECT POSITION SUMMARY DATABASE AND GO TO THE FIRST RECORD SEARCH FOR THE SUMMARY POSITION -304 DATABASE FIELD COMBINATION IN THE FLAG ERRANT DATA AND 910 CROSS REFERENCE DATABASE REMOVE FROM SUMMARY POSITION FILE DO SUMMARY POSITION FIELD COMBINATIONS EXIST IN THE CROSS REFERENCE DATABASE NO IS THE FIELD COMBINATION VALID 908 GO TO NEXT RECORD CREATE NEW RECORD CONTAINING FIELD COMBINATION IN CROSS REFERENCE DATABASE YES CROSS REFERENCE DATABASE NOW 918 CONTAINS A COMPLETE VERIFIED LIST OF FIELD COMBINATIONS

9 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 8 of 18 6,026, FIG 11 OPEN THE LIPPER BUCKET AND CUSIP DATABASES 1102 COPY THE LIPPER INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE INFORMATION FROM THE LIPPER DATABASE INTO THE CUSIP DATABASE FOR RECORDS WITH MATCHING CUSIP NUMBERS 104 COPY THE FUND BUCKET CODES FROM THE BUCKET 1106 DATABASE TO THE CUSIP FILE BASED ON MATCHING LIPPER INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE INFORMATION 1004 FIG. 12 OPEN THE BUCKET AND CUSIP DATABASE 1202 COPY THE PRODUCT BUCKET CODES FROM BUCKET DATABASE TO THE CUSIP DATABASE, BASED ON MATCHING IDC PROSPECTUS CODES 1204

10 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 9 of 18 6,026, FIG. 13 OPEN THE BUCKET SCUSIP CLASSIFICATION FILE, MAP BUCKET DATABASE INTO CUSIP CLASSIFICATION FILE MAPPED ON FUND AND PRODUCT BUCKET CODES COPY ASSET BUCKET CODES FROM BUCKET DATABASE INTO CUSIP DATABASE FIG. 14 SELECT THE POSITION DATABASE AND THE CUSIP DATABASE 1402 MAP THE CUSIP DATABASE INTO THE POSITION DATABASE KEYED ON CUSIP NUMBER 1404 COPY THE FUND PRODUCT AND ASSET CODE VALUES FROM THE CUSIP DATABASE INTO THE PRODUCT CODE FIELDS OF THE POSITION DATABASE 1406

11 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 10 0f 18 6,026,381 FIG 15 SELECT THE RECODED POSITION DATABASE FILE 1502 SUMMARIZE ON ZIP CODE, ACCOUNT TYPE PRODUCT FUND AND ASSET BUCKET CODES, TOTALING THE BALANCE AND # OF RECORDS FOR EACH UNIQUE COMBINATION OF FIELDS 1504 FTG 16 OPEN THE AGGREGATE FILE 16O CLOSE THE AGGREGATE FILE 1608 IS THERE ADDITIONAL SUMMARIZED POSITION DATABASE (S) TO AGGREGATE? YES OPEN NEW SUMMARIZED POSITION DATABASE 1610 MERGE ENTRIES OF SUMMARIZED DATABASE WITH AGGREGATE FILE

12 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 11 of 18 6,026,381 FIG PRESSOR 1704 MEMORY SECONDARY MEMORY HARD DISK DRIVE REMOVABLE REMOVABLE 1716 STORAGE DRIVE STORAGE UNIT COMMUNICATIONS / 1718 INTERFACE

13

14 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 13 0f 18 6,026,381 FIG. 19 % OF TOTAL ASSETS IXI FUND TYPES Mony Mkt. MUni Bond Txbli Bond 2. Blndd DSE FUnds DOM. Eqty Intrnational 2 UnClassifid ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ2 ZZZZZZZZZZ N \ COMP ALL FIRMS

15 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 14 of 18 6,026,381 FIG. 20 ASStS in ZIP ZIP % OF TOTAL All Firms Comp. COmp. For For Comp. ZIP C0cs (SMil) (SMil.), Shr. All Firms Comp. Indx HOUS ton, TX 2, S B Houston, TX 1, O Houston, TX 1, O79 HOUSton, TX 1, O HOUSt On, TX 1, HOUSt On, TX HOUSt On, TX 8959 SSO HOUSt On, TX B Houston, TX S B Sugar Land, TX Houston, TX Spring, TX C Sugar Land, TX 540S HOUSt On, TX O Spring, TX B HOUSt On, TX Humbl TX O63 HOUSt On, TX O69 HOUS ton, TX A Bllair TX Humbl TX B Katy, TX BO HOUSton, TX Houston, TX Missouri City, TX O.96 1 OO HOUSton, TX O O70 HOUSt On, TX O.93 O HOUSt On, TX O92 OO Spring, TX O OHOUSt On, TX 3O O88 O52 SO 7735S MOnt gy, TX 3O O87 O Rang X O Sabrook, TX O Lak Jackson, TX Richmond, TX O 472 O Frinds WOOd, TX O79 O HOUSt On, TX OO OO S HOUSt On, TX O74 OO Houston, TX O E. City TX O70 OSO Baytown, T 24 O3 17 O On HOUSt On, TX HOUSton, TX O HOUS ton, TX O Houston, TX BG Houston, TX O Houston, TX 2O OSO O HOUSton, TX OGO O 41 G Bay town, TX OSO OSB Cyprss, TX OSO Houston, TX O59 O HOUSt On, TX O5B

16 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 15 0f 18 6,026,381 FIG 21 ASStS in ZIP 7IP 9, OF TOTAL All Firms Comp. COMp. For For COMp. ZIP Cods ($Mil.) (SMil.), Shr. All Firms Comp. Indx HOUSton, TX O66 HOUSton, TX O58 O Huntsvill TX O56 O HOUSt On, TX Galvston, TX 1796 S. 6 3S 0.52 O Conro, TX O O68 HOUSt On, TX Spring, TX 1642 BS 5.42 O.47 O Galvston, TX O 1.93 O Parland, TX O45 O Tonball, TX O 5.99 O43 O Humbl, TX O O PaSdna, TX O 547 O42 O Txas City, TX O 42 O Alvin, TX O HOUSt On, TX 14O9 O O41 O Conro, TX A HOUSt On,TX O34 O2O SO Bay City, TX A 2.99 O33 O HOUSton, TX HOUSt On, TX 12.4 S5 582 O32 O Dickinson TX O 360 O32 O HOUSton, TX O 468 O31 On 25 B HOUSton, TX O.30 O Dar Park, TX O3O HOUSton, TX O32 O HOUS ton, TX O 3, 12 O La Port, TX 952 S4 S O O72 HOUSt On, TX O HOUSton, TX O El Campo, TX O27 O Galvston, TX O27 O Conro, TX On 27 O Stafford, TX O3 O25 O23 B HOUSton, TX 90. A O Parland, TX BBB S O HOUSt On, TX , O Spring, TX O Willis, TX HOUSt On, TX O2O Katy, TX HOUSton, TX O23 O. 9 BO Magnolia TX O23 O Houston, TX O On O64 HOUSt Dn, TX O.23 O Spring, TX HOUSton, TX O22 O HOUSton, TX SB 47 SO O. 23 O Also TX On Librty, TX O.21 O

17 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 16 of 18 6,026,381 ASStS in ZIP FIG. 22 ZIP 9, OF TOTAL All FirMS COMp. COMp. For For COMp. ZIP Cods (SMil.) (SMil.) : Shr. All Firms Comp. Indx 77O61 HOUS ton TX O 21 O PaSdna, TX O 21 On Whart On, TX O FU)Shar TX , 18 O.21 On O17 HOUSt On, TX SO5 O2O On 21 O Rosnbrg, TX O O2O OB 88 77OOS HOUSt On, TX O On Crosby, TX S25 O2O B Humbl, TX O 447 O. 19 On Katy, TX O. 19 On Wbstr, TX O5 O. 18 OOS Spring, TX O. 18 O Katy, TX O2 O. 18 On 15 B HOUSt On, TX SO 9 3, O. 18 O HOUSt On, TX SCO OOS PaSdna, TX A 4. O On 7 O Clvland, TX Ol O Col Umbus, TX 570 O O 45 OS OO1 B La Marqu, TX O 15 O HOUSt On, TX O 15 O2O Houston, TX On 15 O BllVill, TX O Frport, TX 49.3 OS 10 On PaSdna, TX G3 On 14 OO9 G Wst Columbia, TX On 13 O E. TX On 13 O Khman, TX OB On 13 O, OS 71 77O6O HOUSt On, TX O O. 12 O Port Lavaca TX O 2.38 O NavaSOta, TX O. 11 OOS Edna TX O O. O Coldspring, TX 3G On 11 On Txas City, TX On 10 O. O Santa F, TX On 10 OO Saly, TX O. 10 O Pasadna, TX OO9 O. Of Missouri City, TX O 6.42 O09 OO Swny, TX 31.2 OB OO Channl viw, TX 29 O Conro, TX OO Wimar, TX 27 O6 2OO OO8 OO HOUSt On, TX OO8 OOS SS Brazoria, TX O OB OO Winni, TX OOG HOUSt On, TX O. O HOUSton, TX 2S3 O6 23. OO AO Brookshir TX 2G2 9 7, 11 O OB OO Port Bolivar, TX OOS Hitchcock, TX 25.4 O O S HOUSton, TX OO7 OO6 89

18 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 17 0f 18 FIG. 23 6,026,381 ASSts in ZIP ZIP 3, OF TOTAL All Firms Comp. Comp. For For COMp. ZIP Cods (SMil.) (SMil.) Shr. All Firms Comp. Indx Conro TX 24.1 O Clut, TX Hallttsvill, TX PalaciOS, TX Madisonvill, TX 22.5 O Houston, TX 22.1 O Humbl, TX 22.0 O HOUston, TX OO Houston, TX S.S O67 Houston, TX O B Fulton, TX 19.5 O O.05 B SOUth Houston, TX O Highlands, TX 17.9 O O.05 O Houston, TX OOG Nw Cany, TX Houston, TX OO Houston, TX Spring, TX 17.3 O O Hmpstad, TX 17. A Houston, TX East Brnard, TX 16.5 O s: TX 16.3 O Eagl Lak, TX 16.1 O O.O Houston, TX O HOUston, TX O.04 OO Portr, TX 15.3 O.9 S OOS Huffman, TX 14.7 O.9 6. A Wallr, TX Galna Park, TX OO Garwood, TX 13.5 OO O Houston, TX Shinr, TX 12.8 O Houston, TX O.04 O Manvl, TX S Ndvill, TX O Anahuac, TX , 9.44 O.O Bacliff, TX O Houston, TX 11.3 O RosharOn, TX 11.2 O Houston, TX OO Houston, TX Pointblank, TX 9.6 O Houston, TX Shphrd, TX 9.4 OS Houston, TX Santa F, TX 93 O OO Andrson, TX 92 O OO Bdias, TX O.03 O

19 U.S. Patnt Fb. 15, 2000 Sht 18 of 18 6,026, Houston, TX Pinhurst, TX Houston, TX Nw Ulm, TX Damon, TX Conro, TX Houston, TX Houston, TX Hull, TX 7706 Houston, TX Cat Spring, TX Ganado, TX Houston, TX Houston, TX Richards, TX HOUSton, TX Houston, TX Danbury, TX S Splndora, TX Wallis, TX Nw Wavrly, TX Moulton, TX Frsno, TX Van Vlck, TX Port O Connor, TX North Zulch, TX Midway, TX Iola, TX Sadrift, TX LOUis, TX Livrpool, TX Pantrsvill, TX Boling, TX Houston, TX FIG. 24 O O O.O3 O S OO OO OO O.02 OO O.02 O. O OO OO O90 O OO S OO OOO OO S1 122 OO1 OOO O. O. O. O O. O OBS O. O. OOO O.O O OO1 O. O. SO O O OOO O.O Lolita, TX O Matagorda, TX O Blssing, TX Allyton, TX Houston, TX Industry, TX O. O Markham, TX OOO O.O Hankanr, TX OOO Blibrvill, TX 1 2O OOO Dwrs, TX 1658 OOO Basly, TX OOO Guy, TX OOO BE TX Oakhurst, TX O ES TX O OOO OOO 0.00 O Midfild, TX O O OOO Wadsworth, TX O Wallisvill, TX O O. 182 OOO OOO E. TX O O OOO OOO OOO O Pasadna, TX O O OOO Elmaton, TX O O OOO OOO OOO O TOTAL 34, , OOOO 100

20 1 FINANCIAL MARKET CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Fild of th Invntion This invntion rlats gnrally to financial information Systms and, mor Spcifically, to a Systm and mthod for classifying financial invstmnts according to dtaild infor mation charactrizing invstmnt Scuritis. 2. Rlatd Art Each tim a Scurity is offrd, whthr it is a nw Scurity or an additional nw offring of an xisting Scurity, it is rfrrd to as an "issu' in financial parlanc. Th issu may b in th form of a Stock, bond, mutual fund or any othr invstmnt product. An invstmnt position rprsnts th numbr of shars or amount of assts invstd in a Spcific issu. An invstmnt account rprsnts on or mor invstmnt positions ownd by a singl account. As a mthod for tracking Scurity issus, Standard & Poor's (S&P) provids a sris of uniqu 8-digit alphanu mric valus, on of which valus may b acqrd by th issur of a Scurity as a uniqu prmannt idntifir. This valu is rfrrd to as a Committ on Uniform Scuritis Idntification Procdurs numbr (CUSIP numbr). Publicly tradd issus ar idntifid by CUSIP numbrs, and financial institutions maintain th CUSIP numbr on all applicabl invstmnt position rcords to idntify th Scurity ownd. Th CUSIP numbr, by itslf, dos not provid sufficint information to idntify th typ of an issu. Howvr, additional information prtaining to th issu can b rsarchd and dtrmind from its offring prospctus. Using this additional information, a Scurity can b classi fid or groupd. For xampl, contmporary financial institutions Such as Mrrill Lynch us catgoris to track th typs of Scuritis thy sll. Each financial institution assigns Scuritis to intrnally gnratd catgoris basd on prospctus rviw. Ths intrnal catgoris ar uniqu to ach institution, and assignmnts ar not ncssarily consistntly mad, nor ar th catgoris rgularly updatd. As a rsult, coding rrors and rrors of omission occur. Morovr, crtain Scuritis may hav to b forc-fit into inappropriat catgoris. A maintainabl, Vrifiabl, consistnt mthod for making cat gory assignmnts would ovrcom th abov-statd prob lms and would prmit cross-industry comparativ analysis. AS anothr xampl, Lippr Analytical Srvics has dvlopd a Schm, calld Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs, which classifis a Subst of Scuritis, namly mutual funds (funds), according to ach fund's portfolio mix, as spcifid in its prospctus. Th Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs prmit fund marktrs to compar thir propritary funds with othrs that hav similar portfolio mixs. Th Wall Strt Journal publishs th changs in prformanc of various catgoris of Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs in th Mony and Invsting Sction of its daily nwspapr. Bcaus this Schm is not basd on CUSIP numbrs, but rathr issur nam and fund titl, it dos not prmit financial institutions to classify invstmnt positions. Thr is a nd, thrfor, for a procss that Systmati cally classifis financial scuritis basd on CUSIP numbr. Such a procss should group invstmnt products into both dtaild and gnral catgoris Such that usrs can idntify narrowly-dfind Scurity typs, as ndd, but also r-combin Standard dtaild catgoris into custom product catgoris Stabl to thir spcific purposs. 6,026, SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Th prsnt invntion solvs th abov-statd problms by providing a Systmatic procss for classifying invstmnt positions basd on CUSIP numbr. Th prsnt invntion classifis invstmnt Scuritis using Sts of hirarchical buckt cods basd on th invstmnt Scuritis CUSIP numbrs and prospctus information. A buckt is an invstmnt product classification that uniquly and consistntly idntifis an invstmnt product typ. In th prfrrd mbodimnt, thr ar buckts to classify individual Scuritis and mutual funds into Scurity product typs, asst classs and mutual fund typs, hrin rfrrd to as product, asst and fund typs. Thus, th prsnt invntion provids a Standard classification Systm into which all invstmnt Scuritis can b catgorizd and groupd. Th prsnt invntion provids thr Sts of hirarchical invstmnt product buckt cods that dfin a Standard St of both gnral and dtaild invstmnt product buckts: a St of product buckts, a st of asst buckts, and a St of fund buckts. Each St of buckts is dirctd to a spcific clas sification purpos. Th prsnt invntion uss CUSIP num brs as th kys for classifying and aggrgating invstmnt products into ths Standard Sts of product buckts, asst buckts and fund buckts. In opration, th prsnt invntion rcivs a financial institution's clint invstmnt databas in an intrnal format Spcific to th financial institution. Th prsnt invntion parss th individual invstmnt positions within ach invstmnt account and thn rclassifis th individual invstmnt positions, basd on th CUSIP numbr, into product buckts, asst buckts, and fund buckts. In th prfrrd mbodimnt, th hirarchical buckt cods that mak up ach buckt provid both a gnral lvl and a dtaild lvl of classification, thrby affording th finan cial institution flxibl and vital information on its clints invstmnts. Th classifications gnratd by th prsnt invntion ar xtrmly accurat for thr rasons. First, thy ar drivd from th financial institution's raw clint data at th position lvl (i.., th financial institution's data hav not bn pr-summarizd). Sinc th financial institution dos not pr-summariz th clint data, thr is no opportunity for th financial institution to introduc additional rrors. Scond, th classification of th position information is basd upon th CUSIP numbr, rsulting in consistnt classification across multipl financial institutions. Third, th prsnt invntion prforms rror chcking during th gnration of th rclassification by Vrifying ach buckt into which an invstmnt position is assignd, as wll as by Vrifying all combind invstmnt positions in trms of buckts and amount of assts within ach buckt. Th prsnt invntion also provids a financial institution with th ability to gnrat a custom Scurity classification Systm basd on th product, asst, and fund buckt cods. Onc its invstmnt positions hav bn rclassifid, a financial institution may combin a plurality of buckt cods to gnrat a uniqu classification lvl Spcific to th intrnal nds of th financial institution. Th prsnt invntion also provids th ability to combin th rclassifid invstmnt positions of multipl financial institutions into an aggrgat fil. Using th aggrgat fil, a financial institution can dtrmin th markt of invst mnt products at both gnral and dtaild lvls. Th aggrgatd invstmnt positions ar also partitiond accord ing to ZIP cod, account typ, account Siz, and account

21 3 yar. Thrfor, ach financial institution participating in th aggrgat fil can rviw its rlativ markt shar for Slctd invstmnt products within a spcific gographical ara or classification of accounts. Additional faturs of this invntion will bcom apparnt from th following dtaild dscription of th bst mod for carrying out th invntion and from appndd claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Th prsnt invntion is dscribd with rfrnc to th accompanying drawings. In th drawings, lik rfrnc numbrs indicat idntical or functionally Similar lmnts. Additionally, th lft-most digit(s) of a rfrnc numbr idntifis th drawing in which th rfrnc numbr first appars. FIG. 1 illustrats th flow of Lippr Invstmnt Objc tivs to th CUSIP classification fil; FIG. 2 illustrats th flow of product, fund and asst buckt cods from a buckt databas to th CUSIP classi fication fil; FIG. 3 illustrats th summarization procss for position databas data vrification; FIG. 4 illustrats th flow of fund, product and asst buckt cods from th CUSIP classification fil to a position databas; FIG. 5 is a control flow diagram rprsnting an ovrviw of th opration of th invstmnt product rclassification and aggrgation procss, FIG. 6 is a control flow diagram rprsnting th cration of a position databas from a raw position txt fil; FIG. 7 is a control flow diagram rprsnting th procss of Summarizing th position databas; FIG. 8 is a control flow diagram rprsnting th procss of Vrifying th position databas information; FIG. 9 is a control flow diagram furthr illustrating th procss of Vrifying th position databas information; FIG. 10 is a control flow diagram rprsnting th procss of rcoding th CUSIP classification fil with product, asst and fund buckt cods, FIG. 11 is a control flow diagram rprsnting th opra tion of rcoding th CUSIP classification fil with fund buckt cods; FIG. 12 is a control flow diagram rprsnting th opra tion of rcoding th CUSIP classification fil with product buckt cods; FIG. 13 is a control flow diagram rprsnting th opra tion of rcoding th CUSIP classification fil with asst buckt cods; FIG. 14 is a control flow diagram rprsnting th opra tion of rcoding th position databas with fund, product and asst buckt cods from th CUSIP classification fil; FIG. 15 is a control flow diagram rprsnting th procss of Summarizing th rcodd position databas; FIG. 16 is a control flow diagram rprsnting th procss of aggrgating th rcodd position databass into an aggr gat fil; FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an xmplary computr Systm usd for implmnting th prsnt invn tion; FIG. 18 illustrats how th prsnt invntion can b usd for gographical analysis of th product of th prsnt invntion; FIG. 19 illustrats how th prsnt invntion can b usd for bar graph analysis of th product of th prsnt invn tion; 6,026, FIGS illustrats how th prsnt invntion can b usd for tabl analysis of th product of th prsnt invn tion; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 1. High Lvl Dscription of th Systm Implmntation Th prsnt invntion is dirctd to th rclassification, basd on CUSIP numbr, of invstmnt products in an invstmnt position fil. It should b undrstood, howvr, that th prsnt invntion is qually applicabl to CUSIP idntifid financial information othr than invstmnt posi tion data. Exampls of othr CUSIP-idntifid financial information ar: mutual fund Sals transactions, invstmnt transactions, commission or rvnu crdits, tc. An invstmnt position rprsnts th numbr of shars or amount of mony invstd in a spcific Scurity hld in a Spcific account, ownd by a spcific ntity. An invstmnt product is a typ of Scurity Such as a Stock, bond, mutual fund, tc. An invstmnt account rprsnts on or mor invstmnt positions ownd by a singl ntity. Invstmnt position information is collctd from various financial institutions and is Standardizd by rclassifying th invstmnt positions into Standard buckts. Th rclassifi cation of invstmnt positions into Standard buckts allows th data of on financial institution to b analyzd with rspct to th data of othr financial institutions. AS an aid for tracking Scurity issus, Standard & Poor's (S&P) provids a Sris of uniqu 8-digit alphanumric valus, on of which valus may b acqrd by th issur of a Scurity as a uniqu prmannt idntifir. This valu is rfrrd to as a Committ on Uniform Scuritis Idntifi cation Procdurs numbr (CUSIP numbr). Intractiv Data Corporation (IDC) compils CUSIP numbrs and thir associatd prospctus information into a CUSIP data fil. Th prsnt invntion uss IDC prospctus information to classify ach CUSIP numbr into a buckt. Additional prospctus information for an invstmnt product can b addd basd on CUSIP numbr. For xampl, th IDC CUSIP data fil dos not provid dtaild prospc tus information for mutual fund invstmnt products. Lippr Analytical Srvics provids a catgorization of mutual funds calld Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs. In th prsnt invntion a databas is usd to associat a Lippr Invstmnt Objctiv to ach mutual fund basd on CUSIP numbr. By using both th IDC CUSIP data fil and Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs, rlatd by CUSIP, a mor complt and dtaild rclassification of invstmnt products and of a financial institution's position databas is attaind. Although th prfrrd mbodimnt uss Lippr Analytical Srvic's cat gorization of mutual funds, in altrnativ implmntations of th prsnt invntion othr mutual fund catgorizations could b usd in addition to, or in plac of, Lippr Invst mnt Objctivs, Such as thos providd by othr firms, Such as Stratgic Insights and MorningStar. Th prsnt invntion uss th CUSIP numbr as th ky to rclassifying th invstmnt position data into buckts. A buckt is an invstmnt product classification that uniquly and consistntly idntifis an invstmnt product typ. A buckt compriss buckt cods that collctivly idntify th buckt. Appndix pags B1-B16 illustrat th prfrrd mbodimnt of th buckts and associatd buckt cods. In th prfrrd mbodimnt, thr ar buckts to classify individual Scuritis and mutual funds into Scurity product typs, asst classs and mutual fund typs, hrinaftr rfrrd to as product, asst and fund typs. In an altrnativ mbodimnt, Scuritis could b classifid into othr buckts, Such as markt capitalization lvls. Onc a Scu

22 S rity issu associatd with a CUSIP numbr has bn rcodd with buckt cods, any occurrnc of that CUSIP numbr (and th associatd Scurity issu) can b rcodd with buckt cods. Th prfrrd mbodimnt compriss thr sts of buckts, on St ach for product, asst and fund typs. Each buckt compriss buckt cods which provid multipl lvls of dtail catgorizing a particular invstmnt product typ. For xampl, fund buckts compris thr lvls of dtail. Th first lvl is th most gnral lvl, and th Scond and third lvls ar Succssivly mor dtaild. In th prfrrd mbodimnt, th first lvl fund buckt cod Spcifis whthr th invstmnt product is a mony markt fund, municipal bond fund, domstic taxabl bond fund, a blndd dbt/qty fund, domstic qty fund or an intr national fund. Th scond lvl fund buckt cod spcifis gratr dtail about th mutual fund. Scond lvl fund buckt cods may spcify, for xampl, whthr a particular mony markt fund invsts in taxabl or tax-xmpt Scu ritis. Th third lvl buckt cod for a fund buckt is vn mor dtaild than th first two lvls, yilding mor infor mation about th invstmnt product. Third lvl fund buckt cods may spcify, for xampl, whthr a tax xmpt mony markt fund invsts a Singl Stat's munici pal bonds, or many Stats municipal bonds. Ths varying lvls of dtail nabl th classification of individual invst mnt products at both a gnral lvl and a dtaild lvl. FIGS. 1-4 provid an ovrviw of th flow of data through th prsnt invntion. Ths figurs illustrat how th buckt cods and data ar manipulatd to yild a position databas fil with th standard buckts assignd to ach position. FIG. 1 illustrats how th Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs ar assignd to invstmnt products in th CUSIP classifi cation fil 104. Th databas drivd from Lippr Analytical Srvics mutual fund information (Lippr databas 102) compriss multipl rcords, ach of which rprsnts an individual mutual fund. Each uniqu mutual fund invst mnt product has a corrsponding CUSIP numbr. Th Lippr databas 102 compriss rcords and CUSIP numbrs rprsnting mutual fund invstmnt products. Th CUSIP classification fil 104, on th othr hand, compriss all known CUSIP numbrs. Th Lippr databas 102, thrfor, is a Subst of th invstmnt products rprsntd by th rcords of th CUSIP classification fil 104. Th Lippr databas 102, howvr, compriss mor dtaild prospctus information on mutual fund invstmnt products than th CUSIP classification fil 104. Th mor dtaild prospctus information is in th form of Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs. To includ th dtaild prospctus information of th Lippr databas 102 in th rclassification of invstmnt products, th Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs ar copid into th CUSIP classification fil 104. To copy th Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs into th CUSIP classification fil 104, th Lippr databas 102 is rlatd into (mappd into) th CUSIP classification fil 104 basd on matching CUSIP numbrs. Sinc CUSIP numbrs uniquly idntify an invstmnt product, th mutual fund invstmnt products of th Lippr databas 102 map dirctly into th CUSIP classification fil 104. Th Lippr Invstmnt Objc tivs ar thn copid into th corrsponding mutual fund invstmnt product rcords of th CUSIP databas. 6,026, FIG. 2 illustrats th flow of data usd to assign product, asst and fund buckts to th invstmnt products of th CUSIP classification fil 104 aftr th Lippr prospctus information has bn addd to th CUSIP classification fil 104. Th buckt databas 202 compriss all of th buckts to b assignd to invstmnt products, as wll as vry uniqu combination of IDC prospctus information & Lip pr Invstmnt Objctivs that occur in th CUSIP classi fication fil 104. Th buckt databas 202 is a look up tabl usd to cross rfrnc buckt cods with IDC & Lippr prospctus cods, and can b gnratd ithr manually or algorithmically. Each particular combination of IDC & Lippr prospctus cods is associatd with a individual buckt. Th buckt databas 202 is mappd into th CUSIP classification fil 104 basd on IDC prospctus information & Lippr Invstmnt Objctiv combinations. Th product, asst, and fund buckt cods ar thn copid into th CUSIP classification fil 104. Aftr th buckt cods hav bn copid into th CUSIP classification fil 104, ach uniqu invstmnt product, idntifid by CUSIP numbr, has bn assignd uniquly to on product buckt, on asst buckt and on fund buckt. Th CUSIP classification fil 104 can now b usd to assign buckts to invstmnt products which ar idntifid by CUSIP numbr. Th mthod of assigning product, asst and fund buckt cods to th CUSIP classi fication fil 104 is implmntation spcific. Although th procss of FIG. 2 illustrats th us of a look-up tabl, th buckt cods could also b assignd using an algorithm or applid manually. FIG. 3 illustrats th procss for vrifying and auditing th information in th position databas 302 for th purposs of quality control. Sinc th position databas 302 is Sup plid by an xtrnal financial institution, th information in th position databas is Subjct to rrors. Th Summarization procss idntifis uniqu combinations of position informa tion and crats Summary databass 304,306 whos rcords ach rprsnt a uniqu combination of position information valus. In th prfrrd mbodimnt, th position informa tion is in th form of fild valus in position databas 302. Th position databas 302 can b summarizd multipl tims basd on diffrnt filds or combinations of filds. Th Summarization procss is most asily undrstood with a Simpl xampl. Th Summary procss is radily dscribd in trms of an xampl databas that contains th nam of th ownr, ZIP cod and dialing prfix of vry phon numbr in th Unitd Stats. This hypothtical databas would contain approxi matly 275 million rcords. If th numbr of individuals in ach ZIP cod is to b calculatd, th databas can b vrifid by summarizing on ZIP cod. Th Summarization procss would rsult in a ZIP cod summary databas with ach rcord containing a uniqu ZIP cod and a numbr rprsnting th numbr of phon numbrs in th particular ZIP cod. Sinc th U.S. has approximatly 35 thousand uniqu ZIP cods, th ZIP cod summary databas would hav approximatly 35 thousand rcords. Th ZIP cod Summary databas could thn b chckd for validity against a list of known valid ZIP cods to idntify th invalid ZIP cods in th xampl databas. This Summary procss, thrfor, provids a mthod for data vrification. Mor rliabl data vrification can b prformd by summarizing on combinations of filds. Sinc valid ZIP

23 7 cods could b assignd to phons rsiding in anothr ZIP cod, mor rliabl data vrification can b prformd by applying th Summary procss to ZIP cod combind with tlphon dialing prfix. A nw Summary databas is cratd by crating a rcord for ach occurrnc of a uniqu ZIP cod and tlphon dialing prfix combination. This would rsult in a databas that contains vry uniqu combination of ZIP cod and tlphon dialing prfix. Th rsultant Summary databas could thn b cross-rfrncd against a list of known valid combinations of ZIP cod and dialing prfix, providing an additional lvl of data Vrification. FIG. 3 illustrats th Summarization procss as applid to th financial institution's position databas 302. Th sum marization procss is usd as a quality control Stp to nsur th validity of th data providd by th financial institution. Th position databas 302 is Summarizd on uniqu com binations of filds, for xampl, ZIP cod, Stat, account typ, CUSIP numbr, tc. Th summarization procss rsults in Summary position databass 304,306. Summary position databass 304, 306 ar thn cross-rfrnc chckd for validity against known valid combinations of information in cross-rfrnc databass 308, 310. Any rrant data or nw unidntifid combinations of data ar idntifid, flaggd and rmovd from th position databas 302 or addd to th cross-rfrnc databass 308, 310, rspctivly. This stp nsurs th intgrity and validity of th position databas 302 information. FIG. 4 illustrats th procss of rcoding th financial institution's position databas 302 with th buckt cods from th rcodd CUSIP classification fil 104 and Summa rizing position databas 302. Position databas 302 is rlatd Data Slction: Lvl of Dtail: Data Scurity: Rcord Contnt: ZIP+4 Cod (rqrd) Distributor Cod (rqrd) Branch Cod (optional) Customr Typ (rqrd) Customr Gndr (optional) Customr Ag (optional) Customr Dat (optional) Uniqu Acct. # (optional) Account Typ (rqrd) Account Dat (rqrd) Fund Cod (rqrd) Shars/Units Ownd (rq'd) Markt Pric/NAV (rq'd) Balanc (rqrd) Cod Convntions: Fil Charactristics: Fil Documntation: Prfrrd Mdium: 6,026, (mappd) to CUSIP classification fil 104 basd on CUSIP numbr. Th buckt cods ar thn copid from th CUSIP classification fil 104 into position databas 302 for ach matching CUSIP numbr. This procss rsults in position databas 302 that contains ach invstmnt position placd in product, asst and fund buckts idntifying th invstmnt product typ. Aftr position databas 302 has bn rcodd with th buckt cods, position databas 302 is thn sum marizd. Th Summary procss in th prfrrd mbodimnt is prformd on th basis of uniqu buckt and ZIP cods. Th numbr of positions and valus of assts ar totald for ach uniqu combination of buckt and ZIP cod. This rsults in a databas whos rcords contain a list of ach possibl buckt (that occurs in th ZIP cod) for vry ZIP cod which has invstmnt positions, with its associatd assts and numbr of positions. 2. Sampl Data Tabls A through F contain th input data Spcifications for th financial institution Submittd position data information, which varis according to th typ of financial institution. Tabls A, C, and F provid an ovrviw of th data to b submittd by th financial institution for thr typs of financial institutions. Th position information of th prfrrd mbodimnt compriss ZIP cod, customr typ, customr gndr, branch, customr ag, customr dat, account typ, fund or product idntifir, CUSIP, account dat, shars ownd, pric of Scurity, account balanc, distributor idntifir, distributor typ and omnibus account indicator. Each rcord of th data providd by th financial institution should rprsnt on position. Tabls B, D, and E dscrib th cross-rfrnc tabls to b providd by th financial institution. TABLE A INPUT DATA SPECIFICATIONS SUMMARY Data as of 6/28/96 - Dirct-Marktd Fund Companis Slct all invstmnt positions of rtail accounts administrd in th U.S. (This is to includ all accounts of Privat Invstors, Small Businsss, and S mall Group Plans that your firm considrs part of th rtail markt.) Provid on rcord for ach sharholdr account. Strip out all prsonal idntifirs (.g., nam, addrss, tl/fax#, taxpayr ID) Account ownr's ZIP+4 Your cod for any indpndnt brokr/dalr or financial advisor who is rsponsibl for th account. Your cod for any of your fild offics linkd to th account. Typ of account ownr (s Cod Dfinition Tabls). Wbr applicabl. Dat or yar of birth, whr applicabl. Dat or yar rlationship stablishd with th Customr. Uniqu idntifir for ach account (to facili at rror chcks). Typ of account (s Cod Dfinition Tabls). Dat or yar account stablishd. Your intrnal cod for th Fund. Numbr shars/units ownd, as of 6/28/96, Pric or NAV, as of 6/28/96, rportd to 3 d o 3 dcimals. cimals. cimals. Asst amount, as of 6/28/96, rportd to 2 d Plas us th sam cods you us intrnally for all data filds. Plas do not rcod, convrt, or roll-up any of your intrnal cods bfor submission. Plas provid fild-lngth rcords in a sing fil (maximum block siz = 32K). Rcord sparators may b usd for ASCII fils. Do not convrt any EBCDIC binary filds. Plas provid documntation; including: rcord layout, block siz, blocking factor, total numbr of rcords and dollars o 3480/3490 cartridgs or Windows NT DAT assts submittd. ap back-up vrsions.

24 6,026, TABLE B CODE DEFINITIONTABLES Instructions for Dirct-Marktd Fund Companis Plas provid a tabl of possibl cod valus and thir associatd dfinitions in a common PC format such as Excl, DBF, or ASCII txt fil format for all of th following cods: 1. Cods usd to dfin Customr Typs, for xampl: Customr Typ Cod Customr Typ Dfinition IN JT CO Individual Joint Tnants Corporation 2. Cods usd to dfin Account Typs, for xampl: Account Typ Cod Account Typ Dfinition REG Rgular WRA Wrap 4O1 401(k) Individually Dirctd IRR IRA Rgular 3. Cods usd to idntify your company's individual funds, for xampl: Fund Cod Fund Nam CUSIP TMM Taxabl Mony Markt Fund O1 CMS-B Common Stock Fund-B Shars O2 4. Cods usd to idntify your company's fild branch offics. Plas includ all branch addrss information as wll as any managmnt hirarchy that applis, for xampl: Branch Rgion Nam Addrss City Stat Zip AZ SW Phonix 16 Wst Pasadna Phonix AZ CH MW Chicago 20 Wst Wackr Chicago IL 606O2 5. Cods usd to idntify your company's indpndnt distributors. Plas includ all distributor nam and addrss information, for xampl: Dalr Nam Addrss City Stat Zip AZ Arizona Financial Plannrs 16 Wst Pasadna Phonix AZ CH CHH Group 20 Wst Wackr Chicago IL Data Slction: Lvl of Dtail: Data Scurity: Rcord Contnt: TABLE C INPUT DATA SPECIFICATIONS SUMMARY Data as of 6/28/96 -- Wholsal-Marktd Fund Companis Slct all invstmnt positions of rtail accounts administrd in th U.S. (This is to includ all accounts of Privat Invstors, Small Businsss, and small Group Plans that your firm considrs part of th rtail markt.) Provid on rcord for ach sharholdr account. Strip out all prsonal idntifirs (.g., nam, addrss, tl/fax#, taxpayr ID) ZIP+4 Cod (rqrd) Account ownr's ZIP+4 Distributor Cod (rqrd) Your cod for any indpndnt brokr/dalr or financial advisor who is rsponsibl for th account. Distributor Typ (rqrd): Your cod for th typ of brokr/dalr or financial advisor. Omnibus Acct. Indicator Your cod indicating omnibus accounts (rqrd) Customr Typ (rqrd) Typ of account ownr (s Cod Dfinition Tabls). Customr Gndr (optional) Whr applicabl. Customr Ag (optional) Dat or yar of birth, whr applicabl. Customr Dat (optional) Dat or yar rlationship stablisbd with th Customr. Uniqu Acct. # (optional) Uniqu idntifir for ach account (to facilitat rror chcks). Account Typ (rqrd) Typ of account (s Cod Dfinition Tabls). Account Dat (rqrd) Dat or yar account stablishd. Fund Cod (rqrd) Your intrnal cod for th Fund. Shars/Units Ownd (rqd) Numbr shars/units ownd, as of 6/28/96, to 3 dcimals. Markt Pric/NAV (rq. d) Pric or NAV, as of 6/28/96, rportd to 3 dcimals. Balanc (rqrd) Asst amount, as of 6/28/96, rportd to 2 dcimals. Cod Convntions: Plas us th sam cods you us intrnally for all data filds. Plas do not rcod, convrt, or roll-up any of your intrnal cods bfor submission. Fil Charactristics: Plas provid fild-lngth rcords in a singl fil (maximum block siz 32K). Rcord sparators may b usd for ASCII fils. Do not convrt any EBCDIC binary filds. Fil Documntation: Plas provid documntation, including: rcord layout, block siz, blocking factor, total numbr of rcords and dollars of assts submittd. Prfrrd Mdium: 3480/3490 cartridgs or Windows NT DAT tap back-up vrsions.

25 11 6,026, TABLED CODE DEFINITIONTABLES Instructions for Wholsal-Marktd Fund Companis Plas provid a tabl of possibl cod valus and thir associatd dfinitions in a common PC format such as Excl, DBF, or ASCII txt fil format for all of th following cods: 1. Cod(s) usd to dfin Customr Typs, for xampl: Customr Typ Cod Customr Typ Dfinition IN JT CO Individual Joint Tnants Corporation 2. Cod(s) usd to dfin Account Typs, for xampl: Account Typ Cod Account Typ Dfinition REG Rgular WRA Wrap 4O1 401(k) Individually Dirctd IRR IRA Rgular 3. Cods usd to idntify your company's individual funds, for xampl: Fund Cod Fund Nam CUSIP TMM Taxabl Mony Markt Fund O1 CMS Common Stock Fund O2 4. Cods usd to idntify your company's indpndnt distributors. Plas includ all distributor nam and addrss information, for xampl: Dalr Nam Addrss City Stat Zip AZ Arizona Financial Plannrs 16 Wst Pasadna Phonix AZ CH CHH Group 20 Wst Wackr Chicago IL ML Mrrill Lynch 800 Scuddrs Mill Plainsboro NJ Rd. 5. Cod(s) usd to dfin your company's typs of distributors, for xampl: Distributor Typ Cod Distributor Typ Nam NWH FP INS National Brokrag Hous Financial Plannr Insuranc Company Data Slction: Lvl of Dtail: Data Scurity: Rcord Contnt: TABLE E INPUT DATA SPECIFICATIONS SUMMARY Data as of 6/28/96 -- Scuritis Brokrs Slct all invstmnt positions of rtail accounts administrd in th U.S. (This is to includ all accounts of Privat Invstors, Small Businsss, and small Grou p Plans that your firm considrs part of th wholsal markt.) Provid on rcord for ach invstmnt position. Strip out al prsonal idntifirs (.g., nam, addrss, tl/fax#, taxpayr ID) ZIP+4 Cod (rqrd) Account ownr's ZIP+4 Branch Cod (rqrd) Your cod or th originating branch, as applicabl. Non-Branch Dist. Cod Your intrnal cod for any advisor account rlationships or (rqrd) fully disclosd claring branchs. Customr Typ (rqrd) Typ of account ownr (s Cod Dfinition Tabls). Customr Gndr (optional) Whr app icabl. Customr Ag (optional) Dat or yar of birth, whr applicabl. Uniqu Acct. # (optional) A uniqu idntifir for ach account. Account Typ (rqrd) Typ of account (s Cod Dfinition Tabls). Account Dat (rqrd) Dat or yar account stablishd. Rcord Typ (rqrd) 1 = Cash Rcord; 2 = Position Rcord. Product Cod (rqrd) Finst lv cod in your intrnal product cod systm. CUSIP (R) (rqrd) Lav blank for Cash or Margin (or if CUSIP (R) is not availabl).

26 13 6,026, TABLE E-continud INPUT DATA SPECIFICATIONS SUMMARY Data as of 6/28/96 -- Scuritis Brokrs Shars/Units Ownd (rqd) Numbr shars/units ownd, as of 6/28/96, to 3 dcimals. Markt Pric/NAV (rq'd) Pric or NAV, as of 6/28/96, rportd to 3 dcimals. Balanc (rqrd) Asst Amount, as of 6/28/96, rportd to 2 dcimals. Plas rport all positions, rgardlss of sign. Cod Convntions: Plas us th sam cods you us intrnally for all data filds. Plas do not rcod, convrt, or roll-up any of your intrnal cods bfor submission. Fil Charactristics: Plas provid fild-lngth rcords in a singl fil (maximum block siz = 32K). Rcord sparators may b usd for ASCII fils. Do not convrt any EBCDIC binary filds. Fil Documntation: Prfrrd Mdium: Plas provid documntation, including: rcord layout, block siz, blocking factor, total numbr of rcords and dollars of assts submittd. 3480/3490 cartridgs or Windows NT DAT tap back-up vrsions. TABLE F CODE DEFINITIONTABLES Instructions for Scuritis Brokrs Plas provid a tabl of possibl cod valus and thir associatd dfinitions in a common PC format such as Excl, DBF, or ASCII txt fil format for all of th following cods: 1. Cods usd to dfin Customr Typs, for xampl: Customr Typ Cod Customr Typ Dfinition IN JT CO Individual Joint Tnants Corporation 2. Cods usd to dfin Accdunt Typs, for xampl: Account Typ Cod Account Typ Dfinition REG Rgular WRA Wrap 4O1 401(k) Individually Dirctd IRR IRA Rgular 3. Cods usd to idntify products in your company's product cod systm, for xampl: Product Cod Product Nam TMM Taxabl Mony Markt CMS Common Stock Cods usd to idntify your company's fild branch offics. Plas includ all branch addrss information as wll as any managmnt hirarchy that applis, for xampl: Branch Rgion Nam Addrss City Stat Zip AZ SW Phonix 16 Wst Pasadna Phonix AZ CH MW Chicago 20 Wst Wackr Chicago IL 606O2 5. Cods usd to idntify your company's non-branch distributors, if any. Plas includ all distributor nam and addrss information, for xampl: Dalr Nam Addrss City Stat Zip AZ Arizona Financial Plannrs 16 Wst Pasadna Phonix CH CHH Group 20 Wst Wackr Chicago AZ IL Tabls 1 through 3 of th Appndix contain thr tabls dscribing th prfrrd mbodimnt buckt cod informa tion. Th thr tabls dscrib th diffrnt product, fund and asst buckts. Although th tabls illustrat th prfrrd mbodimnt, du to th natur of th invstmnt product industry, nw product, fund and asst buckt cods will continu to b addd, and xisting buckt cods modifid. Tabl 1 contains a list of th buckts dscribing th product buckt cod information. Th product buckt cods of Tabl 1 ar usd to rcod th CUSIP classification fil 104 which, in turn, is usd to rcod th financial institution's position databas. Tabl 2 and Tabl 3 contain th asst and fund buckt cods, rspctivly. Th asst buckt cods ar usd to stablish a Sris of asst classs. Ths asst classs ar drivd from th combination of fund and product buckt cods assignd to an invstmnt product. Th CUSIP clas sification fil 104, thrfor, cannot b rcodd with th asst buckt cods until th product and fund buckt cods hav bn assignd to th invstmnt products in th CUSIP classification fil 104. Aftr th fund and product buckt cods hav bn assignd to ach invstmnt product in th CUSIP databas, th combination of fund and product buckt cods for ach invstmnt product ar analyzd to dtrmin th appropriat asst buckt cod to b assignd to th invstmnt product. Aftr th rcoding procss, th CUSIP classification fil 104 contains a list of invstmnt products rcodd with th product, asst and fund buckt cods from Tabls 1, 2 and 3. Th rcodd CUSIP classifi cation fil 104 can thn b usd to plac all of th invstmnt products in a financial institution's position databas in invstmnt product buckts.

27 15 6,026, TABLE 1. Product Cods Buckt Cods Prod s 6 Prod 2 Prod 3 ProdNam 1 33 g O g O Cash Cash Cash Cash Cash Cash Munis Munis Munis Munis FI FI FI FI FI FI FI FI FI FI FI FI FI FI FI OfE OfE OfE C/E & Trusts C/E & Trusts C/E & Trusts C/E & Trusts ProdNam 2 Cash Balancs Cash Balancs Mony Markt Mony Markt Mony Markt Tax-Exmpt Taxabl Zro-Coupon US Savings Bonds Trasuris Trasuris Trasuris Trasuris US Gowt Zro Coupon Bonds US Gowt Zro Coupon Bonds US Gowt Zro Coupon Bonds Fdral Agncy Dbt Mortgag-Backd Scuritis Mortgag-Backd Scuritis Mortgag-Backd Scuritis Mortgag-Backd Scuritis Mortgag-Backd Scuritis CMOS Asst-Backd Scuritis CDS Corporats Corporats Corporats Corporats Corporats Corporats Prfrrd Stock Prfrrd Stock Prfrrd Stock Common Stock Common Stock Common Stock Common Stock Common Stock Common Stock Common Stock Othr Eqtis Othr Eqtis Othr Eqtis Otbr Eqtis Othr Eqtis Othr Eqtis Dbt-Orintd Eqty-Orintd Closd-End Mutual Closd-End Mutual Closd-End Mutual ProdNam 3 Cash Balancs Taxabl Tax-Exmpt Bills Nots Bonds Trasury Strips Othr Zro Coupons GNMA FNMA FHLMC Othr Issurs Commrcial Papr Nots & Bonds Zro Coupons Convrtibls Typ Not Spcifid Rgular Convrtibl NYSEAMEX Exchangs NASDAQ-Listd Rgional Exchangs OTC & NOB Canadian Exchangs Exchang Not Spcifid Warrants Units Rights Scrip Othr Dbt-Orintd Eqty-Orintd

28 17 TABLE 1-continud Product Cods 6,026, Buckt Cods Prod Prod 2 Prod 3 ProdNam : 1. 7 O C/E & Trusts 1. C/E & Trusts 2 C/E & Trusts O C/E & Trusts O C/E & Trusts Forign O Forign 1 Forign 2 Forign 3 Forign O Forign 1 Forign 2 Forign 3 Forign 4 Forign O O Forign Forign 1 Forign 2 Forign 3 Forign O O Othr Othr O Othr O Othr 1. Othr 2 Othr 3 Othr 4 Othr 5 Othr 6 Othr O Othr 1. Othr 2 Othr O Othr O Othr O O Othr Othr M Margin Balancs ProdNam 2 UITs UITs UITs REITs Othr /Trusts/MLPs Forign Dbt Issus Forign Dbt Issus Forign Dbt Issus Forign Dbt Issus Forign Eqty Issus Forign Eqty Issus Forign Eqty Issus Forign Eqty Issus Forign Eqty Issus Off-Shor /Trusts Othr Forign Scuritis Othr Forign Scuritis Othr Forign Scuritis Othr Forign Scuritis Privat Limitd Partnrship Privat Placmnts Options (on) Options (on) Options (on) Options (on) Options (on) Options (on) Options (on) Futurs Futurs Futurs Prcious Mtals Physical Commoditis Othr Unclassifid Assts ProdNam 3 B11 Dbt Eqty US Exchangs Canadian Exchangs Exchang Not Spcifid ADRS US Exchangs (Non ADRs) Canadian Exchangs Exchang Not Spcifid Privat Placmnts Options/Futurs Othr Eqty Issus Dbt Issus Intrst Rats Indics Commoditis Currncis Rgular Managd TABLE 2 Asst Cods Buckt Cods Asst 1 Asst 2 Asst 3 AsstNam 1 AsstNam 2 AsstNam O Cash Cash Balancs 1. 2 O Cash Tax-Ex Mony Mkt Cash Taxabl Mony Mkt US Trasury Cash Taxabl Mony Mkt US Gov't

29 19 TABLE 2-continud Asst Cods 6,026, Buckt Cods Asst 1 Asst 2 Asst 3 AsstNam 1 AsstNam 2 AsstNam i s 3 Cash D 2 D b 3 D b O D D Eqty Non-Classifid Non-Classifid Non-Classifid Margin Balancs Taxabl Mony Mkt US Trasury US Trasury US Trasury Othr US Gov't Othr US Gov't Othr US Gov't Othr Taxabl Dbt Othr Taxabl Dbt Othr Taxabl Dbt Forign Issur Dbt Forign Issur Dbt Forign Issur Dbt Tax-Exmpt Munis Tax-Exmpt Munis Tax-Exmpt Munis Dbt & Trusts Dbt & Trusts Dbt & Trusts Dbt & Trusts Dbt & Trusts Dbt & Trusts Expird Maturitis Domstic Eqtis Eqty & Trusts Eqty & Trusts Forign Issur Eqtis Forign Off-Shor Forign. Othr Othr Scuritis Non-Classifid Othr 0-90 Days Days 1 Yr Days Days 1 Yr Days Days 1 Yr Days Days 1 Yr Days Days 1 Yr. -- US Trasury US Gov't Ultra-Short Obligations Othr Taxabl Muni Bond Intrnational Domstic Intrnational TABLE 3 Fund Cods Buckt Cods Fund 1 Fund 2 Fund 3 Fund.Nam 1 Fund.Nam 2 Fund.Nam 3 Mony Mkts Mony Mkts Mony Mkts Mony Mkts Mony Mkts Mony Mkts Mony Mkts Mony Mkts Muni Bond Muni Bohd Muni Bond Muni Bond Muni Bond Muni Bond Muni Bond Muni Bond Muni Bond Muni Bond Muni Bond Taxabl Taxabl Taxabl Taxabl Municipal Municipal Municipal Short-Trm Short-Trm Short-Trm Int. Trm Int. Trm Int. Trm Varid Mat. Varid Mat. Varid Mat. Varid Mat. US Trasury US Gov't Mony Mk Instrumn Multi-Stat Singl Stat Multi-Stat Singl Stat Multi-Stat Singl Stat Multi-Stat Singl Stat High Yild

30 21 TABLE 3-continud Fund Cods 6,026, Buckt Cods Fund 1 Fund 2 Fund 3 Fund.Nam Fund.Nam 2 Fund.Nam 3 3 O Muni Bond Muni Bond Muni Bond Insurd Insurd Insurd Short-Trm Short-Trm Short-Trm Short-Trm Short-Trm Int. Trm Int. Trm Int. Trm Int. Trm Varid Mat. Varid Mat. Varid Mat. Varid Mat. Varid Mat. Varid Mat. Varid Mat. Mtg-Backd Mtg-Backd Mtg-Backd Mtg-Backd Corp. Dbt Corp. Dbt Corp. Dbt Corp. Dbt Multi-Stat Singl Stat Ultra-Short Oblig. US Trasury US Gov't Inv. Grad US Trasury US Gov't Inv. Grad US Trasury US Gov't Targt Mat. Gnral Bond Flx. Inc. Misc. GNMA Adi-Rat Mtg US Mtg Corp A-Ratd Corp BBB-Ratd Loan Part. Corp. Dbt High Currnt Yild CCCC b b CC CC CC b f E C Eqty Eqty Eqty Eqty Eqty Eqty Eqty ty Adj. Mix Adj. Mix Adj. Mix Adj. Mix Adj. Mix Balancd Balancd Balancd Convrtibl Sc. Incom Flx. Profolio Multi-Sctor Incom Gnral Targt Mat.

31 23 TABLE 3-continud Fund Cods 6,026, Buckt Cods Fund 1 Fund 2 Fund 3 Fund.Nam Fund.Nam 2 Fund.Nam O 1. 3 O O g Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed Domstic Ed rnationa rnationa rnationa In rnationa In rnationa In rnationa In rnationa In rnationa In rnationa In rnationa In rnationa In rnationa In rnationa In rnationa rnationa rnationa rnationa rnationa Incom Incom Incom Growth/Inc. Growth/Inc. Growth/Inc. Capital Growth Capital Growth Capital Growth Capital Growth Capital Growth Capital Growth Ind. Sctor Ind. Sctor Ind. Sctor Ind. Sctor Ind. Sctor Ind. Sctor Ind. Sctor Ind. Sctor Ind. Sctor Inc. Orintd Inc. Orintd Inc. Orintd Inc. Orintd Inc. Orintd Equ-Orintd Multi Nat Equ-Orintd Multi Nat Equ-Orintd Multi Nat Equ-Orintd Multi Nat Equ-Orintd Multi Nat Small Co. Multi Nat Small Co. Multi Nat Small Co.X. Multi Nat Rgional Rgional Rgional Rgional Dual-Purpos/Inc. Eqty Inc. Growth & Inc. S&P 500 Indx Growth Dual-Purpos Cap. Mid-Cap Small Co. Growth Capital Appr. Environmntal Financial Srvics Halth/Biotch Natl Rsourcs Ral Estat Scinc & Tch. Utility Spcialty & Misc. Short Multi-Mkt (World) Short Singl-Mkt (Non-U.S.) Gnral World Inc. Emrging Markts Dbt Flx. Portfolio Global Equ. (Incl. US) Intrnational (Non US) Gold-Orintd Global (Incl. US) Intrnational (Non US) Europan Pacific Emrging Mkts

32 6,026,381 TABLE 3-continud Fund Cods Buckt Cods Fund 1 Fund 2 Fund 3 Fund.Nam 1 Fund.Nam 2 Fund.Nam Intrnational Rgional Japans Intrnational Rgional Latin Amrica Intrnational Rgional Canadian 7 O O Unclassifid X X X Unclassifid 3. Dscription of th Systm Implmntation FIG. 5 illustrats th main procdur 500 for classifying invstmnt products. Th Systm is prfrably implmntd on a computr Systm as a Sris of procss Stps. Aftr th raw position txt fil from a financial institution has bn procssd into position databas 302 in stp 502, position databas 302 is summarizd in stp 504. Th Summarization procss compriss th Stps of idntifying uniqu combinations of ZIP cod, account, CUSIP numbr information in th position databas 302 from th intrnal cods providd by th financial institutions. As would b rcognizd by on of skill in th rlvant art, th providr and natur of th data procssd by th prsnt invntion is implmntation and application Spcific. Th prsnt invn tion is qually applicabl to position data from othr Sourcs as wll as to othr typs of financial data. Aftr th uniqu combinations of information in position databas 302 ar idntifid, nw Summary position data bass 308, 310 ar cratd that includ a rcord for ach uniqu combination of information Stord in position data bas 302. Position databas 302 can b summarizd on multipl combinations of filds rsulting in multipl Sum mary position databass 308, 310. By crating a summary databas, th information in position databas 302 can b Vrifid against known valid combinations of fund, account, product and asst cods. AS dscribd abov, th Summari Zation Stp facilitats cross-rfrncing and nsurs that information in position databas 302 is valid. Th Summa rization procss could also b applid to rcord-lvl fils containing lmnts Such as th numbr of accounts, transactions, trads, rvnu crdits or any othr financial data which can b associatd with a spcific CUSIP numbr. Th main procdur 500 includs svn high lvl stps that procss th financial institution's data into a final form for analysis. Stp 502 opns th raw position txt fil and procsss it into position databas 302. Th raw position txt fil is providd by a financial institution and contains invstmnt position information. A position corrsponds to an individual holding of a singl invstmnt product. For xampl, an individual holding 50 shars of a particular issu of Stock would constitut a position. Position infor mation could includ for xampl, ZIP cod, customr typ (.g., individuals, trusts, tc.), customr gndr, customr ag, account typ (rgular taxabl, IRA, tc.), account dat, shars ownd, asst valu, and othr position rlatd infor mation. Th raw position txt fil is procssd into a position databas with ach rcord corrsponding to an individual position at stp 502. Aftr position databas 302 has bn summarizd in stp 504, th information in position databas 302 is vrifid at stp 506. Th vrification stp 506 is prformd to tst th validity of th position data and to idntify nw fild combinations in position databas 302. By cross-rfrncing summary position databas(s) 304, 306 with known valid combinations of fund, account, product and asst information, rrant data and nw combinations can b idn tifid. Cross rfrnc stp 506 nsurs th intgrity of th data in th position databas 302. Errant rcords (containing rronous information) ar rmovd and rcords containing nw uniqu combinations of information ar idntifid and addd to th cross-rfrnc databas at stp 506. Stp 508 of main procdur 500 rcods CUSIP classifi cation fil 104 with standard fund, product and asst buckt cods. As notd abov, S&P assigns a uniqu CUSIP numbr for vry issu. IDC compils a databas of all valid CUSIP numbrs and prospctus information associatd with ach scurity. CUSIP classification fil 104 is rcodd with stan dard fund, product and asst buckt cods at stp 508. Prior to th rcoding of CUSIP classification fil 104, th pro Spctus information is containd in many diffrnt filds, ach of which may contain numrous diffrnt valus. Th many prmutations of th prospctus information filds maks analysis of th prospctus information difficult. Th rcoding, thrfor, is usd to idntify a managabl numbr of product, asst and fund typs for analysis. Aftr rcoding stp 508, CUSIP classification fil 104 contains a fixd numbr of known Standard buckt cods. Aftr th information in position databas 302 has bn vrifid in stp 506, stp 510 rcods position databas 302 with Standard product, fund and asst buckt cods from th rcodd CUSIP classification fil 104 from stp 508. Stp 510 maps th rcodd CUSIP classification fil 104 to position databas 302, kyd on CUSIP numbr. Th product, fund and asst buckt cods in th CUSIP classi fication fil 104 ar thn copid into position databas 302 for corrsponding CUSIP numbrs. Aftr position databas 302 has bn rcodd with th buckt cods, it is possibl to analyz position databas 302 basd on th buckt cods. Aftr position databas 302 has bn rcodd with th buckts in stp 510, position databas 302 is comprssd in Stp 512. Th comprssion procss Summarizs multipl rcords in position databas 302 into Singl rcords basd on dsird analysis filds. Th Summarization procss rsults in a Summary position databas 406 with ach rcord contain ing a uniqu combination of th filds Spcifid for analysis purposs. Th prfrrd mbodimnt mploys Summariza tion on th product, fund and asst buckts combind with ZIP cod. Th summary position databas 406 is usually smallr than position databas 302. Aftr position databas 302 has bn comprssd in Stp 512, Stp 514 crats a aggrgat position databas. Stps hav gnratd a summary position databas 406 for an individual financial institution. Position databas 302 for that financial institution has bn procssd in a stan

33 27 dardizd form. Th standardizd form allows th summary position databas 406 to b combind with Summary posi tion databass from othr financial institutions. This nabls analysis of multipl financial institutions position informa tion at th sam tim. By combining th Standardizd and rcodd position databass from a plurality of financial institutions, an aggrgat position databas fil is cratd at Stp 514. Th aggrgat position databas rprsnts th rcords of a plurality of financial institutions whos position txt fils hav bn procssd in stps Th aggr gat fil cratd in Stp 514 can rprsnt th ntir financial product marktplac, allowing analysis of markt-wid financial information. In an altrnativ mbodimnt, a par ticular Subst of th markt can b rprsntd by aggrgat ing a Subst of th position databass into aggrgat position databas. FIG. 6 furthr illustrats th procss of convrting th raw position txt fil into position databas 302 of stp 502. Data dscribing th Structur of th raw position txt fil is rad from a lookup fil in stp 602. Th data rad in stp 602 contains, for xampl, how th raw position txt fil is dlimitd, how many filds ar containd in th raw position txt fil, th natur of th data containd in th raw position txt fil (i.., charactr or numric), th lngth of th information containd in th raw position txt fil, tc. This Stp nsurs corrct alignmnt of th information from th raw position txt fil with th filds of position databas 302 that is to b cratd. Nxt, a position databas structur is cratd in stp 604 basd on th data rad in stp 602. Th raw position information is thn appndd from th raw position txt fil into position databas 302 in stp 606. Position databas 302 cratd in stp 606 is thn chckd for valid account numbrs at stp 608. If it is dtrmind at stp 608 that not all rcords in position databas 302 contain account numbrs, an account numbr for ach rcord lacking on is cratd in stp 610. If all th rcords in position databas 302 hav account numbrs (or hav nw account numbrs from stp 610), thn th procss rturns to th main procdur 500 at stp 612. FIG. 7 furthr illustrats Summarizing position databas 302, stp 504. Aftr position databas 302 has bn cratd in stp 502, position databas 302 is summarizd at stp 504. Th Summarization procss has bn dscribd in mor dtail in conjunction with FIG. 3, abov. First, position databas 302 is opnd at stp 702. Th procss thn dtrmins th filds to b summarizd at stp 704. Th Summary filds could includ any information which lnds itslf to Vrification Such as account typ, product typ, ZIP cod, tc. Basd on th filds dtrmind in stp 704, nw summary position databass 304, 306 ar cratd in stp 706. Uniqu combinations of th filds dtrmind in stp 704 ar copid into nw summary position databass 304, 306 at stp 706. Aftr th Summary position databass 304, 306 hav bn cratd at stp 706, th procss rturns to main procdur 500 at stp 708. If multipl filds or fild combinations ar to b vrifid, position databas 302 can b summarizd on diffrnt filds and fild combinations, rsulting in multipl Summary posi tion databass 304,306 at stp 504. Ths multipl summary position databass 304, 306 would thn b vrifid against multipl cross-rfrnc databass 308,310 for vrification. For xampl, position databas 302 could b summarizd on ZIP cod, to nsur no invalid ZIP cods ar containd in position databas 302 that would caus analysis rrors latr. Likwis, th product and othr cods can b vrifid indpndntly using multipl Summary and cross-rfrnc fils. For th purposs of xplanation, howvr, th numbr and combination of th filds that ar vrifid hav bn limitd. 6,026, FIG. 8 is a mor dtaild illustration of th data vrifi cation procss, stp 506. First, both th Summary position and cross-rfrnc databass 308, 310 ar opnd at stp 802 and 804. Cross rfrnc databass 308, 310 contain known valid combinations of filds to b compard with th fild combinations in Summary position databas 304, 306. Th two databass ar compard at stp 806. Th compari Son is thn usd to idntify valid, nw, and rrant fild combinations at stp 808. Th procss rturns to th main procdur 500 flow at stp 810. FIG. 9 illustrats a mor dtaild viw of vrifying th fild combinations in Summary position databas 304,306, stps 806 and 808. Summary position databas 304,306 is slctd in stp 902. Cross-rfrnc databas 308, 310 is thn sarchd for th combination of filds containd at th first rcord in Summary position databas 304, 306 at stp 904. If th fild combination from th summary position databas 304, 306 xists in th cross-rfrnc databas, thn th fild combination is dtrmind to b a known valid combination at stp 906. Th procss thn continus to stp 916 to dtrmin whthr th nd of th summary position databas 304, 306 has bn rachd. If th procss has rachd th nd of Summary position databas 304, 306, thn it is known that th cross-rfrnc databas now contains a complt, Vrifid list of fild combinations at stp 918. If, on th othr hand, it is dtrmind that th nd of summary position databas 304,306 has not bn rachd at Stp 916, thn th nxt rcord in Summary position databas 304,306 is slctd at stp 914 and th procss continus in a loop to stp 904. At stp 906, if th Summary position databas fild combination dos not xist in th cross rfrnc databas, thn th procss dtrmins if th fild combination is valid at stp 908. If th fild combination is not valid, thn th rrant data in Summary position databas 304, 306 is flaggd and rmovd from Summary position databas 304,306 at stp 910. If, on th othr hand, th fild combination is dmd to b valid at stp 908, thn a nw fild combination is cratd in th cross-rfrnc databas at stp 912. Th procss thn dtrmins whthr th nd of fil has bn rachd at stp 916. Aftr th nd of Summary position databas 304,306 has bn rachd at stp 916, th procss rturns to th main procdur 500 at stp 920. FIG. 10 furthr illustrats th rcoding of th CUSIP classification fil 104 stp 508. Th rcoding of CUSIP classification fil 104 can b compltd anytim in th procss bfor position databas 302 is rcodd at stp 510. Th rcoding of CUSIP classification fil 104 bgins at stp 1002, whr th fund buckt cods ar copid into th CUSIP classification fil 104. Aftr CUSIP classification fil 104 has bn rcodd with fund buckt cods, CUSIP classification fil 104 is rcodd with th product buckt cods in stp Aftr CUSIP classification fil 104 has bn rcodd with both th fund buckt cods at stp 1002 and th product buckt cods at stp 1004, CUSIP classifi cation fil 104 is rcodd with th asst buckt cods at stp 406. Th asst buckt cods ar dtrmind basd on th combination of fund and product buckt cods in ach rcord of CUSIP classification fil 104. It is ncssary, thrfor, that th asst buckt cods b dtrmind at Stp 406 aftr stps 402 and 404. Aftr th compltion of stp 406, th procss rturns to th main procdur 500 at stp 408. FIG. 11 furthr illustrats how CUSIP classification fil 104 is rcodd with th Lippr Analytical Srvics infor mation at stp 402. Th CUSIP and Lippr databas fils ar opnd at stp Aftr th CUSIP and Lippr fils hav

34 29 bn opnd, th Lippr databas is rlatd (mappd) into CUSIP classification fil 104 basd on CUSIP numbr, and th Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs from th Lippr databas 102 ar copid into CUSIP classification fil 104 at stp CUSIP classification fil 104 is thn mappd to buckt databas 202 kyd on Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs. Buckt databas 202 contains buckt cods dfining fund, product and asst buckts, and th Lippr Invstmnt Objc tivs to which thy corrspond. Th fund buckt cods ar thn copid from buckt databas 202 into CUSIP classifi cation fil 104 at stp 1106, matching on Lippr Invstmnt Objctivs. Th procss rturns to procss 506 at stp FIG. 12 illustrats rcoding of product typ information in CUSIP classification fil 104 at stp 1004 in mor dtail. Buckt databas 202 and CUSIP classification fil 104 ar opnd at stp Buckt databas 202 contains buckt cods dfining fund, product and asst buckts, and th IDC prospctus cods to which thy corrspond. Buckt databas 202 is mappd into CUSIP classification fil 104 basd on IDC prospctus cods. Th product buckt cods from th buckt databas 202 ar thn copid into CUSIP classifica tion fil 104, rcord by rcord, for matching combinations of IDC prospctus cods at stp FIG. 13 is a mor dtaild illustration of rcoding CUSIP classification fil 104 with asst buckt cods of stp Buckt databas 202 is opnd and mappd into CUSIP classification fil 104 basd on matching combinations of fund and product buckt cods at stp Th asst buckt cods ar thn copid from buckt databas 202 into CUSIP classification fil 104 for matching combinations of fund and product buckts at stp Aftr th asst buckt cods of CUSIP databas 202 hav bn rcodd, th procss rturns to th main procdur 500 at stp 510. FIG. 14 is a mor dtaild illustration of rcoding th position databas 302, stp 510. First position databas 302 and CUSIP classification fil 104 ar slctd. CUSIP clas sification fil 104 and position databas 302 ar mappd basd on CUSIP numbr at stp Nxt, th fund, product and asst buckt cods ar copid from CUSIP classification fil 104 into position databas 302. Aftr th fund, product and asst buckts hav bn assignd to ach invstmnt product of position databas 302, th procss rturns to th main procdur 500 at stp 512. FIG. 15 furthr illustrats th comprssion of position databas 302 at stp 512. Rcodd position databas 302 is slctd at stp Th procss of stp 512 is vry similar to th procss of stp 504, whr th summary position databas 304,306 is cratd. Th procss thn Summarizs rcodd position databas 302 on th fund, product, and asst buckts combind with ZIP cod and totaling th numbr of rcords and invstmnt amounts for ach uniqu combination. AS Statd abov, th Summarization procss rsults in a Summary databas that contains all of th uniqu combinations of th filds Spcifid for th Summarization procss. Th Summary will allow analysis basd on th Summary filds. It should b rcognizd, howvr, that Sinc th Summary filds ar dtrmind by th analysis procdur, th slction of mor, fwr or diffrnt filds to Summariz is ncompassd by this invntion. Aftr th Summarization procss, Stp 512, position databas 406 has bn put in Standardizd form. Th Standardizd Summary position databas 406 will thn b combind with standard izd position databass from othr financial institutions to produc a aggrgat fil that provids a mor complt viw of th financial position marktplac. Aftr th Summariza tion procss at Stp 1504, th procss thn rturns to main procdur 500 at stp ,026, FIG. 16 is a mor dtaild illustration of crating th aggrgat fil at Stp 514. Th aggrgat fil is a compilation fil of a plurality of summarizd position databass 406 that hav bn procssd. For xampl, multipl financial insti tutions produc multipl raw position txt fils. Ths posi tion databass ar procssd by stps and thn combind into a aggrgat fil. Th procdur to crat th aggrgat fil bgins with opning th aggrgat fil at Stp Aftr stp 1602, it is dtrmind whthr thr ar nw, final Summarizd position databass 406 to b addd to th aggrgat fil at Stp If thr ar no additional Summarizd position databass 406 to b addd, th aggr gat fil is closd at stp If, on th othr hand, thr ar additional summarizd position databass 406 to b addd to th aggrgat fil, th nw Summarizd position fil 406 is opnd at stp Th rcords of th nw sum marizd position fil 406 ar thn mrgd with th aggrgat fil at stp Mrging th nwly cratd Summarizd position fil 406 with th aggrgat fil is accomplishd by appnding th rcords of th summarizd position fil 406 to th aggrgat fil, So that th aggrgat fil contains all of th diffrnt financial institutions position information. Th procss thn continus to stp 1604, whr it is dtrmind whthr additional Summarizd position fils xist to b addd to th aggrgat fil. This procss continus until thr ar no additional Summarizd position fils to b addd to th aggrgat fil, in which cas th aggrgat fil is complt. 4. Systm Configuration Th chosn mbodimnt of th prsnt invntion is com putr Softwar xcuting within a computr Systm. FIG. 17 shows an xmplary computr Systm. Th computr Systm 1702 includs on or mor procssors, Such as a procssor Th procssor 1704 is connctd to a communication bus Th computr systm 1702 also includs a main mmory 1708, prfrably random accss mmory (RAM), and a scondary mmory Th scondary mmory 1710 includs, for xampl, a hard disk driv 1712 and/or a rmovabl Storag driv 1714, rprsnting a floppy disk driv, a magntic tap driv, a compact disk driv, a program cartridg and cartridg intrfac (Such as that found in Vido gam dvics), a rmovabl mmory chip (Such as EPROM, or PROM), tc. which is rad and writtn to by a rmovabl storag unit Rmovabl storag unit 1716, also calld a program Storag dvic or a computr program product, rprsnts a floppy disk, magntic tap, compact disk, tc. AS will b apprciatd, th rmovabl Storag unit 1716 includs a computr usabl Storag mdium having Stord thrin computr Softwar and/or data. Th rmov abl storag driv 1714 rads from and/or writs to a rmovabl storag unit 1716 in a wll-known mannr. Th computr systm 1702 may also includ othr similar mans for allowing computr programs or othr instructions to b loadd. Such mans can includ, for xampl, a communications intrfac Communications intrfac 1718 allows Softwar and data to b transfrrd btwn computr systm 1702 and xtrnal dvics. Exampls of communications intrfac 1718 can includ a modm, a ntwork intrfac (Such as an Ethrnt card), a communi cations port, tc. Softwar and data transfrrd via commu nications intrfac 1718 ar in th form of signals which can b lctronic, lctromagntic, optical or othr signals capabl of bing rcivd by communications intrfac In this documnt, th trm computr program product' is usd to gnrally rfr to rmovabl Storag unit 1716, a

35 31 hard disk installd in hard disk driv 1712, and signals transfrrd via communications intrfac Ths com putr program products ar mans for providing Softwar to a computr systm In an mbodimnt whr th invntion is implmntd using Softwar, th Softwar may b stord in main mmory 1708, or in a computr program product and loadd into computr systm 1702 using rmovabl storag driv 1714, hard disk driv 1712, or communications intrfac Th softwar, whn xcutd by th procssor 1704, causs th procssor 1704 to prform th functions of th invntion as dscribd hrin. In anothr mbodimnt, th invntion is implmntd primarily in hardwar using, for xampl, a hardwar Stat machin. Implmntation of th hardwar Stat machin So as to prform th functions dscribd hrin will b apparnt to prsons skilld in th rlvant arts. Th bst mod of th prsnt invntion is dirctd to a computr Systm 1702 comprising a prsonal computr. Mor spcifically, th prsonal computr includs, in th prfrrd mbodimnt, a Pntium procssor with 66 or 90 MHZ, xcuting Windows NT, or a Gatway 2000 Pntium procssor with 133 MHZ, xcuting Windows 95. Furthrmor, th prfrrd mbodimnt includs a prsonal computr having 4 gigabyts (GB) of mmory with 32 mgabyts (MB) of RAM. It should b undrstood, howvr, that th invntion is not limitd to this mbodi mnt. Instad, th invntion is dscribd with rfrnc to ths computr Systms for convninc purpos only. Othr computr Systms could altrnativly b usd. Additionally, th prfrrd mbodimnt is dirctd to th prsnt invntion bing implmntd in Softwar. Prfrably, Microsoft Visual FoxPro, vrsion 3.0, and Dl phi xcut on th chosn computr Systm. It should b undrstood that th invntion is dscribd with rfrnc to Visual FoxPro and Dlphi for convninc purpos only. Othr Softwar packags could altrnativly b usd. 5. Analysis of Rsultant Data Aftr th position databass hav bn rcodd, Summa rizd and collctd into th aggrgat fil, th aggrgat fil can b analyzd. Th product, asst and fund buckt cods in conjunction with ZIP cod, and othr position information can b analyzd by any of a numbr of data analysis tools currntly availabl. In th prfrrd mbodimnt, GoFram is a Softwar packag dsignd spcifically to xploit th data that is producd in th rcoding procss. GoFram was dvlopd in th Dlphi programming languag with a Borland Databas sarch ngin. On of skill in th rlvant art, howvr, will rcogniz that thr ar many databas and gographic analysis tools availabl to analyz and manipulat th product of th prsnt invntion. FIG. 18 is an xampl of gographic analysis and display of th position information. Thr ar two primary intrfacs in th analysis and graphical display tool of th prfrrd mbodimnt. Th first intrfac is th gographical ara Slction intrfac. Th usr may slct a spcific gographical ara for data analy Sis. This gographical ara can includ groups of individual ZIP cods, countis, Stats, mtroplxs, Mtropolitan Sta tistical Aras (MSAs) and Dsignatd Markt Aras (DMAS). MSAS and DMAS ar markt aras providd by th U.S. Cnsus Burau and A. C. Nilsn & Company, rspc tivly. Mtroplxs ar collctions of on or mor countis that dfin a gratr mtropolitan ara, or markt. Th Slction of gographic rgion and th gographic Slction intrfac Slcts th Subst of position data in th aggrgat fil that corrsponds to th gographic ara Slctd. Th 6,026, Scond intrfac allows analysis of th data that has bn Slctd in th gographic Slction intrfac. Through th Scond intrfac, th usr can spcify th invstmnt product buckts and typs of analysis to b prformd on th information Slctd in th gographical intrfac. FIG. 18 is a graphical rprsntation of how th rcodd data in th position databas may b analyzd. Map 1802 rprsnts th Houston, Tx. mtroplx ara by ZIP cod. A mtroplx is a gographical ara comprising on or mor countis which, as a St, gnrally hav a minimum popu lation of 100,000 housholds. Th mtroplx unit is a construct usd to rprsnt gratr mtropolitan aras for th purposs of invstmnt product data analysis. AS can b radily undrstood, any gographical unit may b usd to analyz th invstmnt product position information. Map 1802 is dividd into smallr gographic aras which rpr snt individual ZIP cods in th Houston mtroplx ara. In th mtroplx ara of Map 1802, th ZIP cod aras ar givn diffrnt shadings corrsponding to th amount of assts in th mtroplx ara. Each ara is givn a darkr Shading to rprsnt th gratr shar of th total invstmnt product assts for th mtroplx ara. A lightr shading indicats that th ZIP cod ara contains a Smallr shar of th assts in th mtroplx ara. Tabl 1806 dscribs th quantitativ rlationship btwn th shading in map 1802 and th assts in ach of th ZIP cods. For xampl, unshadd aras to vry lightly shadd aras rprsnt minimum assts of 0 to 2.2 million dollars pr ZIP cod. FIG. 19 illustrats th analysis of a financial institutions rlativ shar of th Houston mtroplx opn-nd mutual fund markt by diffrnt invstmnt product buckts. Th analysis is prformd on th invstmnt product buckts at a vry high lvl rsulting in only Svn diffrnt fund typs. Th diffrnt invstmnt product typs ar mbodid by ach diffrnt fund typ illustratd as a fund typ list For th purposs of th company shar rport (or rlativ markt shar), th prcntags of total assts for th par ticular company with rspct to th total invstmnt product markt can b compard. Th position databas is sparatd into th two primary catgoris of all firms and th particular financial institution for which th analysis is bing pr formd. Th top bar of ach pair of bars mbodid as lmnt 1904 of FIG. 19 rprsnts th prcntag of total assts th clints of a particular financial institution hold in a particular fund typ. For xampl, th clints of th financial institution of FIG. 19 holds approximatly 42% of thir total assts in Mony Markt. Th lowr bar of ach St of bars rprsnts th prcntag of total assts all firms hold in a particular fund typ. For xampl, th total markt of FIG. 19 holds approximatly 32% of its total assts in Mony Markt. Comparison of th two top bars rprsnting th prcntag of total assts in Mony Markt shows that th clints of th particular finan cial institution in qustion hold an abov avrag shar of Mony Markt for th particular markt. Th company shar by fund typs rport of FIG. 19 idntifis which product typs ar popular in a particular gographic ara. By comparing th prcnt of total asst distribution in th company shar rport, a financial insti tution can dtrmin particular invstmnt products which ar favord or unfavord in th particular gographical ara. FIGS illustrat a rport of all financial position information for th Houston mtroplx ara. Balancs ar dtrmind for ach individual ZIP cod and displayd in dcrasing ordr. Th rport of FIGS compars th invstmnt products sold by all firms to th invstmnt

36 33 products sold by th financial institution for whom th rport is bing run. This nabls th financial institution to dtr min its markt shar in ach individual ZIP cod of th Houston mtroplx ara. For xampl, th ZIP cod of Houston, TX. has a total financial position balanc of S2.708 billion dollars. Th particular financial institution for whom th rport is bing run, has sold S166.3 million dollars of invstmnt products in th ZIP cod, constituting a 6.14 prcnt rlativ markt shar. Th last thr columns of data, in FIGS , rprsnt th prcntags of invst mnt product assts that ach ZIP cod rprsnts. Conclusion Whil various mbodimnts of th prsnt invntion hav bn dscribd abov, it should b undrstood that thy hav bn prsntd by th way of xampl only, and not limi tation. If it will b undrstood by thos skilld in th art that various changs in form and dtails may b mad thrin without dparting from th Spirit and Scop of th invntion as dfind in th appndd claims. Thus, th bradth and Scop of th prsnt invntion should not b limitd by any of th abov-dscribd xmplary mbodimnts, but should b dfind only in accordanc with th following claims and thir qvalnts. What is claimd is: 1. A mthod of classifying invstmnt rlatd data com prising th Stps of gnrating a CUSIP classification fil from a CUSIP data fil comprising a plurality of CUSIP numbrs, by assigning ach of said CUSIP numbrs to on of a plurality of Scurity classifications, and gnrating a rcodd position databas by mapping a position databas to said CUSIP classification fil, basd on CUSIP numbr, whrin said position data bas includs a plurality of invstmnt positions, whrin ach of Said invstmnt positions compriss position information comprising a CUSIP numbr, information dscribing th holdr of Said invstmnt position and invstmnt rlatd data. 2. Th mthod of claim 1, furthr comprising th stp of prprocssing Said position databas to idntify th uniqu combinations of Said position information. 3. Th mthod of claim 1, whrin said CUSIP data fil is an xtrnal fil providd by a third-party vndor. 6,026, Th mthod of claim 1, furthr comprising th stp of Summarizing Said rcodd position databas by idntifying non-uniqu combinations of Said position information. 5. Th mthod of claim 1, whrin said rcodd position databas compriss a plurality of rcords and furthr com prising th Stp of comprssing Said rcodd position data bas by Summarizing Said plurality of rcords within Said rcodd position databas into Singl rcords basd on uniqu combinations of position information. 6. Th mthod of claim 1, furthr comprising th stp of aggrgating a plurality of Said rcodd position databass to gnrat an aggrgat position databas, whrin Said rcodd position databass ar associatd with a plurality of diffrnt financial institutions. 7. Th mthod of claim 6, furthr comprising th stp of analyzing ach of Said rcodd position databass with rspct to Said aggrgat position databas. 8. A mthod for analyzing data from a plurality of financial institutions comprising th Stps of: gnrating a plurality of rcodd position databass, whrin ach of Said rcodd position databass is gnratd by mapping a position databas basd on CUSIP numbr to a CUSIP classification fil, whrin Said position databas includs a plurality of invst mnt positions, whrin ach of Said of invstmnt positions compriss position information comprising a CUSIP numbr, information dscribing th holdr of Said invstmnt position and invstmnt rlatd data, whrin Said rcodd position databass ar associatd with a plurality of financial institutions, aggrgating said plurality of rcodd position databass to gnrat an aggrgat position databas, and analyzing ach of Said rcodd position databass with rspct to Said aggrgat position databas. 9. Th mthod of claim 8, furthr comprising th stp of gnrating said CUSIP classification fil from a CUSIP data fil comprising a plurality of CUSIP numbrs by assigning ach of said CUSIP numbrs to on of a plurality of scurity classifications.