A security master is the reference database in which an investment firm records every security it trades or analyses: its identifiers, issuer, share class, listing venue, currency and status, with the history of changes to each. Other datasets are joined to it so that one security is never counted twice.
What it holds
It has a row for each security, or for each listing where venues differ. Typical fields are the ISIN, the FIGI, the ticker with its market identifier code, the issuer and its LEI, the security type, the currency, the status and the dates each value held.
Identifiers change: a ticker is reused, a company merges, a share class is split. A security master keeps the old values with dates, so a record from last year still finds its security.
Joining a dataset to it
Join on the strongest key the data carries: ISIN or FIGI first, then ticker with MIC. A ticker alone is not unique across venues. Where your master holds several securities for one issuer, join on the LEI to reach them all.
select sm.security_id, h.day, h.open_postings
from company_hiring_daily h
join security_master sm on sm.isin = h.isin
where h.day = date '2026-09-30';Here the security master is your own table. Keep the key used for each match, and review by hand the records that found no match.
Common mistakes
- Joining on company name or on ticker alone.
- Attaching a company-level value to every share class and then summing it, which counts the company twice.
- Dropping delisted securities, which brings in survivorship bias.
- Accepting an ISIN or LEI whose check digit fails: it is a typing error, not a security.
In Fokals data
Every file carries the company ID and, for a listed company, the ticker, exchange, MIC, ISIN, LEI and FIGI, the share-class code. Join to market data on ISIN, FIGI or ticker with MIC. A brand or subsidiary carries the identifiers of its listed parent.
The company index holds one record per equity listing, in 79 countries, and keeps delisted listings, so a record from last year still finds its security. It sits beside your master as a source of identifiers for listed companies. See mapping alternative data to a security master.
Related terms
- ISIN: the security-level code.
- FIGI: the listing-level and share-class code.
- LEI: the issuer-level code.
- Market identifier code (MIC): the code of the venue.
- Entity resolution: matching records that describe the same entity.
Frequently asked questions
What is the purpose of a security master?
To give every security one identity inside the firm, so that prices, holdings, research and alternative data all refer to the same thing. Without it, the same security appears under several tickers or names, and data from two vendors can be joined only by guesswork.
How do you map alternative data to a security master?
Take the identifiers the dataset carries and check them for validity. Match on ISIN or FIGI first, then on ticker with MIC, then on LEI for issuer-level data. Keep the basis of each match, send records that found no match for review, and map brands and subsidiaries to the listed parent. The investors page describes the identifiers Fokals carries.
Why not join on ticker?
A ticker is unique only on one venue at one time. The same ticker can denote different companies on different exchanges, and a ticker can be reused after a delisting or a change. Ticker with a market identifier code is a workable key, and an ISIN or FIGI is stronger.
The queries and code on this page are examples to adapt. Test them in your own environment before you rely on them.