FactSet Research Systems Inc. is an American financial data and software company that was founded in 1978 by Howard Wille and Charles Snyder. The company is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, and provides financial data and analytics to investment professionals around the world. FactSet's data is sourced from over 500 financial data vendors and includes data on equities, fixed income, commodities, currencies, and more.
FactSet's clients include investment managers, investment banks, and other financial professionals who use the company's software to analyze financial markets and make investment decisions. The company's flagship product is the FactSet workstation, which provides real-time financial data, news, and analytics to its users. FactSet also provides a range of other software products, including portfolio analytics, risk management tools, and quantitative research tools.
FactSet went public in 1996 and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FDS. The company has grown steadily over the years and now has over 11,000 employees in 36 countries. FactSet has also expanded its product offerings through a number of strategic acquisitions, including the acquisition of BISAM in 2017, which expanded the company's portfolio analytics capabilities.
In recent years, FactSet has continued to innovate and invest in new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, to provide more powerful and comprehensive data analytics to its clients. The company has also made a number of commitments to diversity and inclusion, including a pledge to increase the representation of women and people of color in its leadership positions.
Despite increasing competition in the financial data and analytics space, FactSet remains a dominant player in the industry, with a reputation for high-quality data and innovative technology. The company has been recognized for its excellence by a number of industry organizations, including being named to Forbes' America's Best Employers list in 2021.