Setting up Bloomberg Data in Optuma

---

Overview

Optuma is a Certified Integration Partner of Bloomberg, and this article will take you through the process of connecting to a Bloomberg datafeed. You will also learn how to open charts and import lists of symbols (eg from Excel files, or a Bloomberg portfolio).

Here’s a short video highlighting some of the benefits of using Optuma with a Bloomberg datafeed:

Requirements

You need to have an active Bloomberg Professional Services account and the terminal installed on the same system as Optuma. To download this, please click here.

You will also need to have Enterprise Services enabled on your Optuma account. Please contact our Support Team at support@optuma.com.

Step 1 - Setting up Optuma to use Bloomberg Data

1. Log in to Bloomberg and then start Optuma in administration mode.

2. The Data menu button should automatically turn green and say connected to Bloomberg, but if not go to the Data menu and select Data Providers.

3. Tick the Bloomberg box and click away to close the window.

4. The Data menu button will turn green which signifies a live data connection. Mousing over it displays the name and status of the provider:

   

   If connection to Bloomberg fails, click here for further instructions.

5. Left-Click on the Data menu button and hover over Data Providers and then Bloomberg.

   

6. Turn on the Use SAPI Connection and fill in the UUID and the Server IP & Server Port. These should be provided to you by your administrator.

7. You will need to Restart Optuma.

8. Once Optuma restarts, you should be able to confirm the SAPI connection by mousing over the Data button and seeing in the hint the Server that Optuma is connected to and the UUID that it is using.

Step 2 - Opening a Chart using Bloomberg Data

1. With Bloomberg connected, open the Security Selection screen (New > Chart > Select Chart Type, or F3 for the shortcut).

   

   There are many US common equities, indices, forex pairs and commodities added to the Index by default and you can browse through the folders to see these.

2. Type the code or name of the security you wish to open and open from the Bloomberg folder.

3. Selecting a single security and pressing Enter on the keyboard will open that security. Selecting multiple securities, or a folder like above, will allow you to use the Open List As… button to open those as a Watchlist, series of charts, RRG or any other type of charts available.

How to Manually Add a Bloomberg Code

If the code you wish to view is not automatically available in Optuma then it can be easily added.

1. Find the code in the Bloomberg Terminal that you wish to add (COM7 for June 2017 Brent Crude Contract, for example).

2. Open Optuma and press F3 on your keyboard to display the Security Selection window.

3. Type the Bloomberg code exactly as it is used in Bloomberg i.e. COM7 COMDTY and wait a couple of seconds whilst Optuma searches Bloomberg and adds it to your system.

   

4. Once it appears in blue, press Enter to open the chart.

5. The chart will open and the code will be automatically added to your index list for easy searching in the future.

Managing Symbol Lists

If you have multiple symbols to be added or opened in Optuma it may be quicker to import them as either a .csv or Excel file. Additionally, portfolios created on Bloomberg’s PRTU screen can be easily accessed, as well as index components. See the page on using Symbol Lists for more details.

Adding Fundamental Fields in Bloomberg

Optuma is able to access almost all data fields from Bloomberg. You are then able to put these fields in Watchlists and plot them on a chart. Here is a chart of Microsoft with the Bloomberg field “BEST Target Price” added as an indicator using the External Data Fields option in the Data menu. More information is available here.

Special Features

Function Keys

When the Security Selector is open, the Function Keys will work using the default Bloomberg Terminal Shortcuts.

For example, in the Data Selector, you can type in a code such as BHP AU and then press F8 to add the word ‘Equity’ so that BHP AU Equity will be displayed in the search box. The Shortcuts that can be used in the OptumaData Selector are as follows:

• F2 GOVT

• F3 CORP

• F4 MTGE

• F5 M MKT

• F6 MUNI

• F7 PFD

• F8 EQUITY

• F9 CMDTY

• F10 INDEX

• F11 CRNCY

• F12 CLIENT

Clear Custom Codes

An option is available in the Bloomberg Data Exchange called Clear Custom Codes. This is designed to help remove old or duplicated codes.

Clicking this option deletes all custom codes added to the Index, restoring the index back to the standard list of codes.

Any workbooks using custom codes will not be affected, as Optuma automatically populates the index file if a workbook contains Bloomberg codes that are not in the list.

Troubleshooting

If you are unable to connect to the Bloomberg data feed, it may be that Windows UAC or security software prevented the required DLL file to be registered, or that you are missing critical API files.

For detailed information on resolving these connection issues, please click here.

Windows Path

In some instanceswhen Bloomberg is installed, it is supposed to register its directory in the Windows “Path”. This tells all Windows applications that they can search that directory for files. When Optuma opens the connection to Bloomberg, it relies on the directory being set in the path.

In rare cases the path value is not set, however, this can easily be set later manually.

1. Go to the Control Panel in Windows.

2. Search for Environment Variables - You will want to click on Edit Environment Variables for your account

1. Click on PATH and click Edit

   

2. Click on New and type in the path to the the Bloomberg directory. By default, it is C:\blp\DAPI (without quotes). If your Bloomberg was installed in a different location, you will have to reference the DAPI sub-directory for your location.

3. Click OK then OK to save. You should be able to start Optuma and it will be able to communicate with Bloomberg.