ATLANTA, Ga., June 28, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- iLumen, Inc. announces the release of Portfolio Connection(tm), a new service for CPA firms and financial institutions that serve privately-held companies. Portfolio Connection enables institutions to connect their entire business portfolio to the iLumen Financial Information Network, the nation's first online confidential information network for private companies, their industry peers, their advisors and the institutions that serve them.
"CPAs, banks and other financial institutions serve large numbers of private businesses. Until now, there has not been an easy and effective way to profile the financial information of their customers to identify products and services to meet individual needs," said Robert H. Woosley, Chief Executive Officer of iLumen. "Often, important customer financial data resides in a variety of independent software applications that don't provide the entire financial picture for an individual client or their entire customer portfolio. Without a connected and standardized network of private company data for financial portfolios, there is no way to confidentially connect one company to its industry, its credit profile or other services."
Portfolio Connection is used by banks and CPA firms to easily bulk load annual financial data from their existing systems into a single repository. Portfolio Connection can be further leveraged by financial advisors through iLumen's customer facing information portals. For example, Wachovia Bank brands their connection to the iLumen Network as Wachovia Financials Direct and RSM McGladrey brands theirs as RSM Business Connection.
In addition to centralized access, financial data is mapped to industry standards so that it can be used most effectively to deliver enhanced services and valuable third party content. All of this is done securely to protect the confidentiality of an individual private company's data.
"iLumen's core solutions have enabled our firm to connect to our business clients by allowing them to upload interim and annual information through our iLumen portal -- Business Connection," said Rick Haley, Partner of Sellers, Richardson, Watson, Haley, & Logan. "Portfolio Connection will now help us connect our CPAs in a broader way to a network of private companies, providing analytics on our client portfolio and access to a growing marketplace."
Portfolio Connection allows financial advisors to aggregate and benchmark their own portfolio, correlate it to iLumen's industry benchmarking on a national basis and combine that information with relevant third party services, such as industry content providers and credit information services.
"The iLumen Financial Information Network represents a powerful distribution platform for our industry research services," said Tyler Rullman, SVP First Research, subsidiary of Dunn & Bradstreet. "iLumen's ability to confidentially reach private companies, CPAs, industry associations and others creates an opportunity to reach a broader audience for those who are seeking a better perspective on the industries in which private companies operate."
"iLumen's Portfolio Connection is the platform that allows CPA firms and banks to connect their entire business portfolios to the iLumen Network so they can deliver world class information services to their private business customers," said Woosley.
About iLumen
iLumen, Inc., an Atlanta-based financial information company, has created the first online private company marketplace, the iLumen Financial Information Network. The iLumen Network securely connects private companies, their peers and advisers to the information, resources and people that foster success. The iLumen Network utilizes proprietary (patent pending) technology and business processes that deliver and manage private company data gathering and analysis solutions. The iLumen Network is used by financial institutions, accounting firms, associations and other businesses to deliver unique value to the private companies they serve.