Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Definitions

• the present invention relates to an automated system and method for matching potential investors to a financial offering, such as the sale of a lease or loan, based on each investor's profile and the nature of the transaction.
• Every institutional investor that buys or acquires assets has a list of criteria or attributes (i.e., a "profile") of the type of assets that he is looking to acquire.
• attributes include asset type, product type, credit rating of the end user, industry, and a myriad of others.
• each investor has limits on how to price the acquisition of assets based on his institution's cost of funds and pricing matrix.
• the attributes are many and are subject to change at any given moment.
• Such a system and method should be designed to allow a seller to dynamically use investor data (both self- reported by the investor and internally developed by the seller based on history reported by the seller's relationship manager for each investor) to match offerings with investors.
• the number of data fields is preferably large (e.g., in excess of 175) and include such areas as pricing parameters, asset preferences, lease and loan types, as well as specific data such as the fiscal year end of the investor.
• the system and method can be used to find exact matches, or matches with emphasis on certain fields.
• Such a system and method will provide the seller with much greater precision in providing investment opportunities according to investors' preferences and attributes, thereby saving the investors time and increasing investor-customer loyalty, which ultimately translates into increased profits for the seller.
• the seller can also use the system and method to measure against performance by comparing the type(s) of deals that the investor has actually completed with the seller to what the investor's profile indicates that he wants to complete. It could also be used to structure new product offerings based on the seller's ability to match investor needs. Finally, it need not be limited to the lease/loan market. It can also be used to sell customized products that require dynamic matching and where there exists a large quantity of self-reported and/or historical data for properly customizing product offerings to customers.
• the present invention overcomes the inadequacies of the prior art by automating the matching of potential investors to financial offerings based on the nature of the transaction and investor preferences relating thereto.
• a system and method for matching an investor to a financial product comprising the steps of receiving and storing a plurality of profile attributes relating to investment preferences of the investor, receiving and storing a plurality of deal attributes relating to the financial product, correlating the profile attributes and the deal attributes, identifying any profile attributes corresponding with the deal attributes and inviting the investor to invest in the financial product in response to an assessment of the corresponding attributes.
• the investor updates or modifies his profile attributes at any time and/or with any frequency that he chooses.
• an on-line user interface is provided to permit users (particularly administrators) to interactively match potential investors to financial product offerings through a web-enabled application, thus avoiding the delay that would otherwise be caused by off-line processin .
• the administrator e.g., syndicator
• groups of investors having similar profiles are created based on the profile(s) of investors previously selected to be invited to invest in the financial product by the transaction's syndicator.
• groups of investors having attributes in common are created, as refined by adjusting the matching sensitivity and/or filter criteria.
• numerical values are assigned to both the deal attributes and the profile attributes for each of a plurality of investors and a matching score is calculated for each of the investors as a function of the two sets of numerical values.
• the investors are matched to investor groups based on their matching scores.
• Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the application and database servers of Figure 1.
• Figure 3A-3Q is a chart of tables stored in the database server of Figure 2.
• Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an Investor List Form providing a current list of investors for a particular offering.
• Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Prioritized Investors List Form for providing a ranked list of investors that match criteria for a particular offering.
• Figure 6A-6C illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Seeded Form for selecting investors to be added to an offering using previously-selected investors as a seed group.
• Figure 7A-7B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an Unseeded Form for selecting investors to be added to an offering without using a seed group.
• Figure 8A-8B illustrates a flow diagram describing an embodiment of a matchmaking process in accordance with the present invention.
• Figure 9A-9D illustrates a flow diagram describing an embodiment of a ProfileMatchmakerTM program in accordance with the present invention.
• Figure 10 illustrates an example of a cluster diagram generated in accordance with the program of Figure 9A-9D.
• Figure 11A-11E illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an Investor Profile Form for receiving and updating investor profiles.
• the information portal of the present invention is implemented as a site of the world wide web, e.g., http ://www.rrofilematchmaker. com.
• Figure 1 illustrates an embodiment of a system in accordance with the present invention, where a plurality of syndicators 110 at content entry desktops exchange information over an Intranet/Extranet 120 with a server 200 that generally retrieves stored investor profile data and identifies investors with profiles having variables that match criteria relating to the syndicators' deals for selection and addition to such deals.
• the investor profile data is input and updated by each syndicator 110 over the Intranet/Extranet 120 in a separate session by completing or amending an Investor Profile Form (discussed below) that allows the syndicator 110 to select attributes from a number of fields that define the variables of the investor's profile.
• Each syndicator 110 asynchronously communicates with the server 200 by accessing the http://v ww.profilematchmaker.com Web site over the Intranet/Extranet 120 using a web-browser (e.g., Netscape® or Internet Explorer®) on his personal computer or by using well-known alternatives to a web-browser, such as Web-TN®, Palm® hand-held devices, cellular telephones, pagers and other personal digital assistants ("PDAs").
• a web-browser e.g., Netscape® or Internet Explorer®
• PDAs personal digital assistants
• the server 200 is in actuality a combination of three servers: a web server 210; an application server 220; and a database server 230.
• the server 200 may actually include multiple web servers 210 and application servers 220 clustered together in a unit.
• Servers 210, 220 and 230 each include certain standard hardware components, such as a central processing unit (“CPU") that is linked to both a random access memory (“RAM”) and a read only memory (“ROM”) by means of a shared data bus or by dedicated connections.
• the CPU performs all of the processing functions of the servers 210, 220 and 230 in accordance with an operating system (“OS"; not shown) that is stored in the ROM and which has multi-tasking capabilities.
• OS operating system
• the RAM is preferably of sufficient size to prevent problems such as slow loading and system failure due to too many connections being attempted to be established at the same time.
• the web server 210 comprises a cluster of two Sun Ultra 2 servers, each including 1 GB RAM, two 300 MHz CPUs and 9 GB disk space, wherein requests from the syndicators 110 are distributed between the servers by a CISCO LocalDirector 430 load balancer;
• the application server 220 comprises two Sun E450 servers, each including 4 GB RAM, two 400 MHz CPUs and 16 GB disk space, clustered in a load-balancing mode;
• the database server 230 comprises a Sun E450 having 2 CPUs, 2 GB RAM and 9GB disk space and is in communication with three databases (described below), which are in actuality stored in both the database server 230 and a fully-mirrored 1000 Redundant Array of Independent Disks ("RAID”) having 36.4 GB prior to mirroring.
• RAID Redundant Array of Independent Disks
• the web server 210 indirectly communicates with the syndicators 110 on hypertext transfer protocol ("HTTP") that is secured using a standard secure protocol (e.g., secure socket layer (“SSL”) encryption software) through an input/output communications port.
• HTTP hypertext transfer protocol
• SSL secure socket layer
• a syndicator 110 for example, from outside the organization
• the syndicator' s request is routed from the syndicator' s ISP to a hosting ISP (not shown) associated with the web server 210.
• the hosting ISP in turn routes the investor's request to the web server's communications port via a communication line (e.g., a Tl or T3 line). This type of line provides a high speed data connection between the hosting ISP and the web server 210.
• the web server 210 communicates directly with the application server 220 over an internal communications line to an input/output communications port of the application server 220.
• the application server 220 is also connected via an internal communications line with the database server 230.
• the input/output communications ports for the web and application servers 210 and 220 are Cisco 2924 XL switches with redundancy.
• Servers 210, 220 and 230 all include certain software components, such as software servers and software databases, to store information and perform the plurality of requests and transactions.
• the implementation of software servers to execute Internet-directed software in conjunction with a central server is well-known in the art, and the servers' configurations are accordingly not described in detail herein.
• the web server 210 includes a software component that performs the function of acting as a liaison between the syndicators 110 and the application server 220.
• the web server 210 stores and serves static content to the syndicators 110 and requests information from the syndicators 110 as directed by the application server 220.
• the application server 220 includes two distinct software components: the first component 240 is referred to as “Business Logic” and basically controls the dynamic content logic of the server 200, i.e., updating the deals, investor profile and investor assignment databases 260, 270 and 280, respectively, of the database server 230, caching HTML and database result sets, processing searches and content entry, authentication, logging, authorization and other business logic.
• the second component 250 is referred to as "Statistical Library” and generally includes stored algorithms that are executed using the investor profile data to generate a list of investors to be provided to a syndicator 110 for a particular deal.
• the database server contains three databases: the deals database 260, which includes a listing of the offerings presently open for syndication; the investor profile database 270, which includes a listing of all the investors currently registered with the system and their associated profiles; and the investor assignment database 280, which includes a listing of all of the past and current offerings and the prospective and committed investors associated with those offerings.
• Figures 3A-3Q comprises a chart listing records of tables/variables stored in the database server 230 in the preferred embodiment of the invention.
• field 310 of the chart an identifier of the table stored in the database 260 is provided.
• the different variables for which corresponding information is stored are listed in the same record in field 320. All information entered by the syndicators 110 during operation of the system is stored in the appropriate table(s)/variable(s) of Figures 3 A- 3Q.
• table TCMS_CONTACT (field 323) stores securitization program contacts; table TCMS_CONTACT_TYP (field 324) stores information relating to types of contacts (e.g., dealer, rating, agency, etc.); table TCMS_COUNTRY (field 325) stores country names and codes; table TCMS_CRED_FOCUS_TYPE (field 326) stores credit information relating to specific types of deals; table TCMS_CURRENCY (field 327) stores information relating to the currencies of various countries; table TCMS_DEAL (field 328) stores information relating to syndication deals; table TCMS_DEAL_CATEGORY (field 329) stores information relating to syndication deal categories; table TCMS_DEAL_CATEGORY_REF (field 330) stores referencing information relating to the syndication deals; table TCMS_DEAL_SIZE_TYPE (field 331) stores information relating to the size of a deal;
• FIG. 11A-11E An exemplary embodiment of a form for an investor to provide such information (i.e., an "Investor Profile Form") is illustrated in Figure 11A-11E. This form is preferably provided to the investor during the registration process described in related co-pending application Serial No. 09/xxxxxx, the disclosure of which has been incorporated herein by reference.
• Section 1110 of the Investor Profile Form allows the investor to select criteria that most meets his specific requirements with respect to variables relating to a Transaction Specification, such as size, term, credit quality, primary credit focus, financing (for fixed and floating rates) and geography.
• square boxes next to variables within a category indicates that the investor or syndicator . 110 may select or check as many boxes within the category as are appropriate, whereas categories having circles next to variables only allows the investor or syndicator 110 to select a single variable within the category.
• the criteria and categories of Figure 11 A- 1 IE are not meant to be exclusive, and can be custom-tailored based on the needs and requirements of the organization associated with the system.
• the invention is not limited to the sale of leases/loans and financial transactions, and thus the criteria and categories can be created and tailored to fulfill the needs of other types of businesses requiring the customization of product offerings to customers.
• Section 1120 allows the investor to indicate his investment interest level among a list of Equipment types (e.g., Agricultural, Software, Woodworking, etc.). For each Equipment type, three fields are provided for the investor to select one relating to the investor's interest level (e.g., "None", "Some", or “Strong”). The default setting for the investor's interest level can be set at "None” for the convenience of the investor. Furthermore, a space labeled "Other” is provided for the investor to include an Equipment type that has not been included on the list.
• Equipment types e.g., Agricultural, Software, Woodworking, etc.
• three fields are provided for the investor to select one relating to the investor's interest level (e.g., "None", "Some", or “Strong”).
• the default setting for the investor's interest level can be set at "None” for the convenience of the investor.
• a space labeled "Other” is provided for the investor to include an Equipment type that has not been included on the list
• Sections 1130 and 1140 allow the investor to indicate his preferences with respect to Industry type (e.g., Biotech, Forestry, Medical, etc.) and Product type (e.g., operating lease, loan, QTE, etc.), respectively, in exactly the same manner described above with respect to Equipment types in section 1120.
• Section 1150 allows the investor to indicate his preferences with respect to General Information relating to the investor's areas of special interest or capability (e.g., Dot corns, Tax exempt, etc.).
• profile information may be gathered from investors using a "wizard" type technique.
• the investor is prompted to respond to a series of inquiries.
• each subsequent inquiry will depend upon the investor's response to the previous inquiry, so that the specific information gathered from an investor is tailored to that investor's indicated preferences. In certain circumstances, it may be more efficient to gather investor profile information using this technique.
• Section 1160 is provided for the investor to indicate his expected annual purchases. Fields are provided for the investor to indicate his dollar amount of purchase volume from the prior year, the fiscal year end (selected from a drop down menu) and percentage composite tax rate.
• the investor By transmitting the Investor Profile Form, the investor agrees to receive all appropriate documentation and information available through the Web site regarding private placements being offered, including those to which the investor has been added based on a matching of the requisite criteria of a particular deal to the investor's profile data.
• each datum is stored as a variable corresponding to the investor in the investor profile database 270.
• each variable will be assigned a value that may be used for investor matching depending on whether or not the variable is relevant to the particular deal being matched.
• the investor will be provided opportunities to update or. revise his profile at any time and with any frequency as he chooses so that his profile adequately reflects his most current investment interests and needs. This will eliminate the inadvertent selection of the investor by a syndicator 110 of a deal in which the investor is unlikely to be interested.
• Syndicators 110 can either manually add investors to a deal (as described in related co-pending application Serial No. 09/xxxxxx) or can use the ProfileMatchmakerTM program to generate a list of prospective investors from which to select for addition to the deal. Before using the ProfileMatchmakerTM program, however, a syndicator 110 must complete a Criteria Filtering Form (not shown) which allows the syndicator 110 to identify the details of the deal and requirements as to the types of investors it wishes to invite to participate in the deal.
• the Criteria Filtering Form generally includes fields identical to those on the Investor Profile Form for the syndicator 110 to select if the criteria corresponding to the field relates to his deal and if the syndicator 110 wishes to use the criteria to filter prospective investors. For example, if the deal size is $3 million with a term of 5 years, the syndicator 110 may choose to select the buttons corresponding to the "$1 million to $5 million" and "3-5 years” and "5-7 years” fields in the section relating to the Transaction Specification.
• administration identification information relating to each of the identified types which can be selected from an additional two fields (e.g., "Has done” or "Syndicator Preferred" for each of the criteria listed therein.
• each datum is stored as a variable corresponding to the deal in the deals database 250.
• the syndicator 110 will be allowed to update or revise the deal profile so that it adequately reflects the current status of the deal so that only appropriate investors are filtered when the ProfileMatchmakerTM program is subsequently run.
• the profile matchmaking process simplifies the means by which a syndicator 110 selects and invites investors to participate in a deal.
• this process leads the syndicator 110 through an investor screening process which allows the syndicator 110 to select potential investors that are likely to be the best fits for the particular deal, based on both prior experience and a statistical model that takes the investor and deal variables into account.
• Figure 8A-8B illustrates a flow diagram describing the matchmaking process initiated by a syndicator 110 from the perspective of the server 200.
• the process starts in step 800, and in step 805 an Investor List Form is transmitted to the syndicator 110 providing a current list of the prospective and committed investors for a selected deal.
• Section 410 identifies the specific deal or lease for which the investors' names are provided, e.g., "ABC LEASE Investors". It also provides a link to a listing of other deals to which the syndicator 110 has access (not shown) if the syndicator 110 wishes to view or modify the investor list for a different deal.
• Section 420 provides the list of current investors for the deal named in section 410.
• An option is provided to change each investor's deal document review permissions and status (e.g., active, committed or declined) by clicking on the provided "Edit" link adjacent to the investor's name, or to remove the investor from the deal altogether by clicking on the provided "Remove” link.
• step 810 it is determined that the syndicator 110 has elected to edit a particular investor's document permissions/status, a User Classification Form (as described herein by reference to Serial No. 09/xxxxxx) corresponding to that investor is transmitted to the syndicator 110 for revising such information in step 815 and the matchmaking process ends. If not, it is determined in step 820 whether the syndicator 110 has elected to remove a particular investor from the deal. If so, the selected investor's name is removed from the Investor List Form in step 825, and the process repeats itself beginning from step 805.
• a User Classification Form as described herein by reference to Serial No. 09/xxxxxx
• the syndicator 110 can manually select search terms by which to find investors by specific deal criteria.
• the system will automatically find investors on behalf of the syndicator 110 using a stored ProfileMatchmakerTM program.
• step 830 it is determined whether the syndicator 110 has selected the manual "Search” option. If so, the syndicator 110 is linked to a Manual Search Form (not shown or described herein) in step 835 and the matchmaking process ends. If not, it is determined whether the syndicator 110 has clicked on the "ProfileMatchmakerTM" button 440 in step 840. If so, the syndicator 110 is transmitted a Prioritized Investor List Form in step 845. If not, the process repeats itself beginning at 830.
• Section 510 identifies the specific deal or lease, e.g., "ABC LEASE”, and also provides a link to a listing of other deals to which the syndicator 110 has access (as described above with respect to Figure 4).
• Section 520 includes a graph listing in rows investors that match at least some of the criteria entered by the syndicator 110 for the particular deal in the Criteria Filtering Form. Each investor on the list is ranked according to how closely its profile matches the criteria for the deal (e.g., $5,000,000 deal size, in dollars, 5 year term, investment grade, float, computers and energy), each of which is provided in a column that contains a bullet point if the investor satisfies the criteria.
• Adjacent to the name and company of each investor is a box for the syndicator 110 to check if he wants to add the investor to the deal (and to run the investor's profiles through the ProfileMatchmakerTM program to ascertain the identities of similar investors, if that option is later selected).
• On the bottom of the form are four buttons for the syndicator 110 to select once he has selected which investors (if any) to be added to the deal: a "Back" button 530; a "Reset” button 540; a "Next” button 550; and a "Done” button 560.
• step 850 it is determined whether the syndicator 110 has selected the "Back" button 530. If so, the process repeats itself beginning at step 805, where the syndicator 110 is transmitted the Investor List Form for the particular deal. If not, it is determined whether the syndicator 110 has selected the "Reset” button 540 in step 855. If so, the process repeats itself beginning at step 845 with a blank Prioritized Investor List Form being transmitted to the syndicator 110. If not, it is determined in step 860 whether the syndicator 110 has selected the "Next" button 550. If so, the ProfileMatchmakerTM program is executed (as discussed below with respect to Figure 9A-9D). If not, in step 865 it is determined whether the syndicator 110 has selected the "Done" button 560.
• this simplified matchmaking process is sufficient to identify investors to add to a deal. In other embodiments, it may be beneficial to further refine the matchmaking process using more sophisticated algorithms as described below.
• Figure 9A-9D is a flowchart illustrating a preferred embodiment of the ProfileMatchmakerTM program beginning at step 900.
• the process of the ProfileMatchmakerTM program uses two algorithms: a "seeded” algorithm and an "unseeded” algorithm.
• the seeded algorithm is used to filter prospective investors having similar profiles to previously-selected investors which are used as the "seed" group.
• the syndicator 110 can limit the number of investors that result by adjusting the matching sensitivity level or the profile criteria that may be selected to be used for filtering.
• the unseeded algorithm does not use a seed group. It instead allows the syndicator 110 to- search all of the profiles of all of the prospective investors and to group the investors according to similar criteria, subject also to a matching sensitivity level and selected filtering criteria.
• the unseeded feature advantageously reverses the normal process of finding investors only for existing deals by allowing the collective requirements of the investors themselves to define the type of deal that the syndicator 110 will put together in the future. For example, if a large number of investors share similar geographical, deal size and deal term preferences, the syndicator 110 can coordinate a deal catered to such investors. It should be understood that either of the two algorithms can be implemented to run independently from the ProfileMatchmakerTM program described herein.
• step 902. an agglomerative cluster analysis is performed based on a squared Euclidean distance, single (nearest neighbor) algorithm.
• the parameters involved in this analysis are as follows: weighted values assigned to the set of variables corresponding to the deal; the number of prospective investors; and the pre-selected investors (i.e., the investors selected from the Prioritized Investor List) based on the scaled distance at which they join an investor group and the cumulative group memberships.
• step 906 investor groups are selected based on a matching sensitivity level based on a scale of 1 to 10, corresponding to the distance at which a pre-selected investor joins a group, and omitting groups having a sensitivity level equal to a predetermined default setting (e.g., "1").
• a predetermined default setting e.g., "1"
• FIG 10. 10 An example of a cluster diagram generated for simulated investor profile data is illustrated in Figure 10. Referring to Figure 10, the diagram contains the distance calculation on the left, and the scaled matching sensitivity levels from 0- 10 on the right. The values of the sensitivity levels for the groups are shown at the intersections of the dendrograms of the groups.
• step 908 the investor groups are sorted a first time and labeled by the ascending scaled distance at which the investors enter the group.
• step 910 any investor entering a group at a scaled distance greater than a predetermined syndicator-selected matching sensitivity level are omitted.
• step 912 the investor groups are sorted a second time and the preselected investors are displayed in a separate subgroup.
• any remaining investors from the pre-selected investors' are listed in a separate ungrouped category, with the sensitivity level at which they would join a group (i.e., the "matching score").
• step 916 for each selected group (but not the ungrouped category), the means of each of the variables for group members is determined. A median split of the variables is performed in step 918, and the variables in the half with the highest means are selected and sorted by descending order of standard deviation in step 920. This eliminates the variables that are near-consistent zeros, as those are not of interest to the syndicator 110.
• step 922 the top “x" number of these (where "x" is equal to a predetermined value in the range of 5-10) are selected and sorted again, first by logical category, then by ascending standard deviation.
• step 924 the data generated by the seeded algorithm is displayed to the syndicator 110 in a Seeded Form.
• An exemplary embodiment of a Seeded Form is illustrated in Figure 6A-6C. The Seeded Form groups and classifies investors based on the similarities between their profiles based on selected (i.e., filtered) deal attributes.
• Section 610 identifies the specific deal or lease, e.g., "ABC LEASE” and also provides a link to a listing of other deals to which the syndicator 110 has access (as described above with respect to Figures 4 and 5).
• Section 620 and 630 provide investor Groups A and B, respectively, each including both (i) the- investors previously selected from the Prioritized Investor List Form (i.e., the seeds) and (ii) prospective investors having similar attributes to those investors based on the primary, filtered matching criteria.
• All of the investors are provided with their matching scores described above, which are values from 1 to 10 corresponding to how close of a match the particular investor is to the matching criteria based on the results of the algorithm, with a score of "10" being a good match, and a score of "1" being a poor match.
• Adjacent to each prospective investor's name is a box for the syndicator 110 to check if he wishes to add that investor to the deal.
• Section 640 contains the list of ungrouped investors generated in step 914. This list includes the seeds that were not grouped with any other investors at their assigned matching sensitivity levels. Note that sections 630 and 640 will not have any investor groups if no prospective investors are identified as falling into a group with one or more of the seeds.
• step 926 it is determined whether the syndicator 110 has' selected to recalculate the matches. If so, the process repeats itself beginning at step 902, with the seeded algorithm using the new filter criteria and/or matching sensitivity level. If not, in step 928, it is determined whether the syndicator 110 has selected the "Back" button 660. If so, the process repeats itself beginning at step 845, where the syndicator 110 is transmitted the Prioritized Investor List Form for the particular deal. If not, it is determined whether the syndicator 110 has selected the "Reset" button 665 in step 930. If so, the process repeats itself beginning at step 924 with a blank Seeded Form being transmitted to the syndicator 110.
• step 932 it is determined in step 932 whether the syndicator 110 has selected the "Next" button 670. If so, the selected investors (if any) are added to the deal and unseeded ProfileMatchmakerTM algorithm is run in step 936 (described below). If not, in step 934 it is determined whether the syndicator 110 has selected the "Done" button 675. If so, the process ends and investors are added to the deal if selected on the form by the syndicator 110. If not, the process repeats itself beginning at step 928.
• the first three steps of the "unseeded” algorithm is the same as the "seeded algorithm", although it is performed without the pre-selected investor (collectively step 938): an agglomerative cluster analysis is performed based on a squared Euclidean distance, single (nearest neighbor) algorithm, investor groups are selected based on a matching sensitivity level based on a scale of 1 to 10, corresponding to the distance at which a prospective investor joins a group, and groups having a sensitivity level equal to a default setting (e.g., "1”) are Omitted.
• a default setting e.g., "1
• step 940 the means of each of the variables for group members is determined.
• a median split of the variables is performed in step 942, and the variables in the half with the highest means are selected and sorted by descending order of standard deviation in step 944.
• the results are displayed to the syndicator 110 in a Unseeded Form in step 948.
• FIG. 7A-7B An exemplary embodiment of a Unseeded Form is illustrated in Figure 7A-7B.
• the Unseeded Form classifies and groups all of the investors stored in the database 270 based on the similarities between their profiles, subject to a matching sensitivity level and filtering criteria selected by the syndicator 110.
• Section 710 identifies the specific deal or lease, e.g., "ABC LEASE” and also provides a link to a listing of other deals to which the syndicator 110 has access (as described above with respect to Figures 4, 5 and 6A).
• Section 720 includes "Group A" prospective investors, which are selected to the group and provided matching scores based on their primary matching criteria of those criteria selected by the syndicator 110 on the Criteria Filter Form.
• Section 730 and 740 include Group B and Group C prospective investors, respectively, which are also selected to their groups and provided matching scores based on their primary matching criteria. Adjacent to the name of each prospective investor in every group is a box for the syndicator 110 to select if he wishes to add the investor to the deal.
• Section 750 allows the syndicator to adjust the filter criteria and/or matching sensitivity in the exact same manner as was described in relation to section 650 of the Seeded Form.
• a "Recalculate groups” button 755, a "Back” button 760 and a "Reset” button 765 provided on the form also functions in the same manner as described above. However, when the "Done" button 770 is pressed, the syndicator' s final selections of investors to be added to the deal are stored in the investor assignment database 280 in step 950.

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• 2001
  • 2001-08-28 WO PCT/US2001/026944 patent/WO2002021375A2/fr active Search and Examination
  • 2001-08-28 JP JP2002525510A patent/JP2004538537A/ja active Pending
  • 2001-08-28 EP EP01968247A patent/EP1325446A1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 2001-08-28 AU AU2001288506A patent/AU2001288506A1/en not_active Abandoned

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