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The RIXML Interactions Standard is a custom XML definition that provides a standardized, flexible, and comprehensive mechanism for describing investment interactions.

Reducing friction in the communication of inter-firm interactions.

A standardized way to share interactions details

The RIXML Interactions Standard is a custom XML definition that provides a standardized, flexible, and comprehensive mechanism for describing investment interactions.

For all participants

host | participant | corporate representative | third-party expert

For all interaction types

conferences | shareholder meetings | conference calls | earnings discussions | road shows

For all formats

electronic | in-person | one-on-one meetings | panel discussions | interviews | podcasts | media appearances

For all deliverables

meetings | reports | data feeds | models | recordings | emails | phone calls

Background

Buyside and sellside firms need to share interaction reporting data for a variety of reasons – to comply with various regulations, to provide input data for the broker vote process, to populate databases, etc.

RIXML member firms recognized that while every interaction is unique, the information that must be captured and communicated about these interactions is not. Working together, the member firms developed the RIXML Interactions Standard, an XML standard that provide a flexible set of tags, rules, and guidelines for describing a wide variety of investment interactions. Since this standard was developed by buyside firms, sellside firms, and vendors, it contains the tags and structure to accommodate the needs of all types of firms.

There are various types of interactions:

  • Some take place between one service provider and one service consumer (e.g. an onsite one-on-one meeting)
  • Some take place between one service provider and more than one service consumer (e.g., a conference call)
  • Some take place between one service provider, one or more service consumers, and a third party expert (e.g., a session at a conference)

In each of these cases, the service provider will provide a separate interaction record to each service consumer with information about the event, but it will include ONLY the attendee information that pertains to that consumer. The RIXML Interactions Standard accommodates both one-on-one interactions and more complex ones.

How does it work?

RIXML tagging powers tools that capture, communicate, and analyze investment interactions. It also increases the speed and efficiency of AI analysis tools by providing interaction data in a structured, standardized format.

The metadata in a RIXML interaction record is designed to meet the needs of both the humans and the systems that will be using it. It includes tagging that identifies the host of the interaction, the other participants, the format of the interaction and the deliverables, meeting date/time, and details about the purpose and topics, as well as workflow tagging that facilitates content management and recordkeeping.

The RIXML Interactions Standard provides a flexible way to describe a wide variety of interactions, to describe them with as little or as much data as needed, and to provide connections to other interactions and/or to related research content.

Key tag sets

The standard includes tags allowing publishers to describe the:

Interaction type and format

The Interactions Standard enables publishers to describe a broad range of interactions, such as conferences, one-on-one and large meetings, shareholder meetings, road shows, earnings discussions, etc. Interaction deliverables take many forms, so the standard provides the tags necessary to describe in-person or remote meetings, phone calls, emails, webinars, bespoke reports, data feeds, models, and more.

Interaction details

Since the relevant information about an interaction depends on the type of interaction it is, the Interactions Standard has a small number of required tags and a wide range of optional tags. Using the tags that are relevant to the type of interaction being described and the level of detail desired, publishers can create interaction records that suit their needs and those of their clients.

Interaction participants

Using the Interactions Standard allows sellside firms to deliver targeted interaction records to each of their buyside partners without requiring a bespoke process for each. Information about each buyside firm’s participants can go to just that buyside firm, even for conferences or other multi-firm events.

Making connections

The broker vote process involves merging many different data sets. Because the standards in the RIXML Standards Suite are built on a shared tag set, the tags used to describe the author of a research report are the same tags as those used to describe a participant in an interaction, and the same as are used to convey coverage/roster update list data. Firms using the Interactions Standard to convey or receive interaction data benefit from a more straightforward way to merge this data with research report usage data.

From development to implementation

The RIXML Interactions Standard is a custom XML standard developed by the member firms of RIXML to address the unique needs of describing inter-firm interactions. Firms use this standard to develop tools to transmit or receive interaction records. Each interaction is described in an interaction record, which is delivered to the client. Wondering what the steps are in implementing the RIXML Interactions Standard into your interations workflow? Below are the key landmarks, how often they occur, and who is responsible:

Member firms define the requirements

FREQUENCY: every few years
CONDUCTED BY: RIXML member firms

Developed collaboratively by the buyside, sellside, and vendor firms that make up RIXML’s membership, the Interactions Standard provides a flexible, standardized framework for describing inter-firm interactions. It gives publishers a robust language for describing a wide range of interactions, streamlines the process of communicating interaction details, and reduces friction in vendors’ product development workflows.

Directors of Research, Supervisory Analysts, IT developers, taxonomists, compliance experts, and broker vote coordinators have worked together to determine how best to describe investment interactions, and continue to work together to plan further enhancements.

The schema files provide the blueprint

FREQUENCY: When there's a new RIXML Interactions Standard release or when your firm's needs change
CONDUCTED BY: Firms creating tools to create, aggregate, or analyze interactions

The structure, allowed content, and validation rules for the RIXML Interactions Standard are defined in a set of three XML Schema Definition (XSD) files. Together, these schema files act as the blueprint for RIXML Interaction records, specifying which elements are permitted, how they relate to one another, and what values are considered valid.

Developers rely on these XSD files to build systems and tools that allow investment professionals to create, aggregate, and consume interaction data in a consistent and interoperable way. While end users never interact with the XSD files directly, the schema rules are embedded in the front end applications they use.

Interaction records describe each interaction

FREQUENCY: An interaction record is created for each interaction
CONDUCTED BY: Sellside firms and other interaction providers

When an interaction record is created using a front-end application built using the RIXML Interactions Standard framework, the system creates RIXML-compliant interaction records without the end user even being aware that it is happening. The predefined fields, dropdown menus, and controlled pick lists they see reflect the allowable values defined in the schemas. Required fields and dependencies are enforced automatically, preventing incomplete or invalid records from being created.

Standardized metadata simplifies communication

FREQUENCY: As scheduled or requested by buyside firms or other interaction feed consumers
CONDUCTED BY: Sellside firms and other interaction providers

Using the RIXML Interactions format to deliver interaction records eliminates the need for publishers to build and maintain bespoke solutions for each buyside partner. Instead, a single, standardized format can be used to distribute interaction data consistently across firms. Buyside organizations benefit by receiving interaction content in the same format from all sellside partners, making it easier to aggregate, compare, and manage interaction data from multiple sources.

In addition, all standards in the RIXML Standards Suite use a shared set of tags to describe people, companies, and other core reference information. This common vocabulary streamlines the process of linking detailed analyst data across coverage list, interaction record, and research usage feeds, which simplifies integration and supports downstream workflows such as the broker vote process and compliance verification.

Plan your implementation

Background

If you are new to RIXML or metadata in general, here are some resources you may find helpful:

Learn & plan

Wondering where to begin? Here are the steps involved in implementing the RIXML Interactions Standard:

Reach out for help

As you are developing your implementation, you may wish to:

  • Contact RIXML
    If you need basic assistance in getting started with the RIXML Interactions Standard or if you have a question that isn't covered in our documentation, feel free to reach out.
  • Become a member
    RIXML member firms work together to develop best practices, share insights and lessons learned, and develop the Interactions Standard. If your firm is using any of our standards, joining RIXML will connect you with other buyside firms, sellside firms, and vendors who are using it as well.

Current production version:

RIXML Interactions Standard v2.0

Released July 18, 2019

Documentation

The documentation for the RIXML Interactions Standard provides an easy-to-read description of the standard and every tag it includes. It is designed to be of use to use to both the business-side experts determining their firm's needs to the developers tasked with creating databases, feeds, and interfaces.

Schema files

The tag definitions for the Interactions Standard are provided in a set of three XSD files. In general, the same Common schema and Datatypes schema files are used across all standards; however, due to some adjustments required for the Interactions v2.0 release, the files below are unique to the Interactions Standard. The Interactions v3.0 release will allow us to bring the common and datatypes schema files into alignment:

Reference links

The RIXML Standards Suite

The RIXML Research Standard is part of the RIXML Standards Suite. These standards leverage a shared set of tags, increasing efficiency.

COMING SOON

RIXML Standards Suite v3.0

The next major update to the RIXML Standards Suite will soon be available, featuring a streamlined structure and many enhancements designed to ensure that the standards continue to address the needs of all firms involved in the creation, distrbution, and consumption of investment research and interaction data.

KEY CHANGES

  • Streamlined tag structure
  • Improved consistency
  • Simplified entitlement options
  • Updated enumerations
  • Component-level tagging
  • Multi-audience support
  • More flexible connections
  • Robust disclosure options
  • Enhanced support of audio, video, and HTML files
Learn more

Using the RIXML Standards

The standards in the RIXML Standards Suite are free for use by any individual or firm. Membership in the RIXML organization is not required.

However, membership in RIXML allows your firm to guide development of the standards in the future, network with other member firms, and attend a wide range of topic-based meetings.

Explore membership