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We are delighted to inform University of Cambridge members now have full online access to two of the key databases in business studies and economics, Orbis and FitchConnect. Together, Orbis and FitchConnect will enable Cambridge economists and business students and researchers to expand and deepen their access to financial data and benefit from the workflow solutions, data analysis and data visualization tools offered by these online resources.

ACCESSING ORBIS and FITCH CONNECT on and off campus

Orbis is available on and off campus via this link. The first time you login you will be asked to authenticate via Raven.

FitchConnect is available on and off campus via this link. Off campus, you can either click on “Single Sign-On” and type “cam” to authenticate via Shibboleth; or you can click on “Log in with Network” and authenticate via EZproxy and enter your Raven credentials.

Please note, if you choose “Log in with Network” you will also need to contact ClientAdministration@fitchsolutions.com for log in details to access the Excel Add-In functionality. For more info on the Excel Add-In see below “Help to get you started”.

If you experience any difficulties at all with accessing Orbis or FitchConnect, please get in touch using our online help form.

Introducing ORBIS from BUREAU VAN DIJK, A MOODY’S COMPANY

Orbis is Bureau van Dijk ’s global database which has information on over 450 million public and private companies including, banks, vessels, insurance, and industrial companies covering 220+ countries. It is a tool that specialises in private company data, containing active and inactive companies with up to ten years of financial data available. It is updated on a weekly basis and can be used in order to research, analyse as well as strategically build lists of companies using over 300 available search criteria.

Cambridge’s access includes also Orbis Europe, Orbis Europe is a subset of Bureau van Dijk’s global ‘Orbis’ tool. It holds information on public and private banks, insurance and industrial companies across 56 European countries, it contains over 128 million companies on the system and is updated on a weekly basis.

The financial data is standardised in a global format in order to aid the comparability of the individual country reports. Orbis Europe can be used in order to research, analyse as well as strategically build lists of companies using using a wide range of available search criteria, including any line item from the financial filings sections.

Introducing FITCH CONNECT, from FITCH SOLUTIONS

Country Risk and Industry Research (CRIR)

• The Country Risk and Industry Research service provides market-leading economic, political and industry risk research via daily alerts, quarterly reports and proprietary data tools
• Universities and academics who use the CRIR service gain access to consistent and comparable Country Risk and Industry Research coverage for 200 key markets (from the Caribbean to China) and 22 industries (healthcare to infrastructure) – with a focus on emerging and frontier markets
• Fitch coverage is vast and has utility across different types of course and academic institution. Fitch offers access to timely, consistent political, economic and operational risk analysis, as well as access to 2.7 million lines of data and forecasts, and proprietary risk/reward indices
• Academics rely on Fitch research in the knowledge that the forecast methodologies are transparent and our data and analysis is used to support strategic and commercial decision-making at the world’s leading business organisations

Fitch Fundamental Financial Data

• Fitch Fundamental Financial Data provides financials for over 36,000 listed & unlisted banks across 200 countries and territories globally, and is used by Fitch Ratings analysts as the basis for their ratings
• Fitch also provides fundamental financial data for 11,000 insurance firms, 3,000 corporates and 118 sovereigns
• Access enables university students and faculty to conduct relevant cross-border peer comparisons and analysis based on standardised banking sector data sets
• Data is sourced directly from financial institutions and regulatory bodies, and undergoes over 150 data validations to ensure quality and accuracy
• Fitch’s market-leading coverage of banks includes in-depth financial statements with up to 550 data points, 50 pre-calculated ratios, including key regulatory ratios such as the Basel III Leverage Ratio, Liquidity Coverage Ratio and Net Stable Funding Ratio
• Up to 30 years of historical financial data for banks
• Annual and interim financial statements for approximately 3,200 of the world’s top banks is available within 48 hours of filing or publication

Image from the Judge Business School Information Centre website.

HELP TO GET YOU STARTED USING ORBIS AND FITCH CONNECT

To get started with Orbis and Fitch Connect, try out the Help and Support pages which are shown on both sites with the Question Mark sign. Both are top right on Orbis, a white question mark on a blue background, and on Fitch Connect a blue question mark on a white background.

Orbis’ help guide can be exported in full or sections and provides full definitions of all variables. The help guide also includes a videos and a training programme which is split into “Basic”, “Intermediate” and “Advanced”.

To get started with Fitch Connect, watch the videos:

Introduction to Country Risk & Industry Research on Fitch Connect

Introduction to Bank Financial Data on Fitch Connect

You may also find these guides to Fitch Connect useful

Quick start guide – Retrieving bank financial data

Country risk and industry research user guide

You may want to take advantage of the Fitch Connect Excel Add-In that allows you to draw the information you need into the environment you’re most comfortable working in, sure in the knowledge that you only need to hit a button to update the chosen portions of your workbook with the latest figures available. See the Excel Add-In Quick start guide.

You may also be interested in exploring the Cambridge Judge Business School LibGuide and the Economics Collections LibGuide.

Orbis and FitchConnect are available also via the Cambridge Libraries E-resources A-Z.

Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge