The Bloomberg terminal: clunky, costly, addictive, ubiquitous
Some of the more popular are known only by the keystrokes users have to enter on the terminal to access the functions: DINE and FLY allow financiers to quickly check out local eateries and flights, the former vetted and reviewed by like-minded, price-insensitive colleagues and rivals. But POSH offers perhaps the most telling insight into the world of finance.
The function is a high-end classifieds site exclusive to Bloomberg terminal users, where bankers and hedge fund managers can buy and sell sports cars, condos or holiday homes in Gstaad. On a typical day recently, POSH advertised a $2.75m condo in New York’s Chelsea neighbourhood, an apartment in Mallorca and a rare $20,000 Rolex watch.
.. “Most of the functionality is the same and the macro-data is much better [on the Eikon]. But everyone loves IB, particularly on the buyside [institutional investors],” he says. “So if we want to have good, quick access to our existing and potential clients, it is very difficult not to go with Bloomberg.”
.. when it emerged in 2013 that Bloomberg’s newswire reporters could monitor some aspects of their clients’ terminal usage. Goldman Sachs has spearheaded Wall Street’s development of a new chat system known as Symphony, which it and other banks and asset managers hope will lessen Bloomberg’s grip.