Businessmodel of Thomson Reuters

Customer Segments

Thomson Reuters provides a range of information, services and solutions to professionals and commercial entities across multiple business sectors. Its customers can be broadly categorised as follows:

• Corporate Compliance and Risk Management, risk management professionals, money laundering reporting officers, corporate and company secretaries, general counsels, and law firms;
• Financial Management and Accounting, audit management professionals, custodians, banks, insurance companies, fund administrators, pension firms, mutual funds, hedge funds, sovereign funds, underwriters, accounting firms, and government institutions; and
• Corporate and Research Professionals, investment professionals, portfolio managers, wealth managers, research analysts, economists, strategists, investment bankers, professional services and private equity professionals, salespeople, traders, brokers, and corporate strategy and research professionals. Thomson Reuters provides services and solutions on a global scale. Its principal market, however, is the US and the Americas, which accounted for 63% of the Company’s business in 2015. The Company also serves clients across Europe, Middle East and Africa (27% in 2015) and Asia Pacific (10% in 2015).

Value Propositions

Thomson Reuters provides value to its customers in the following ways:

• It is an industry leader with a reputation for providing insightful, reliable and accurate information, and up-to-date reporting;
• It provides a balanced and diversified portfolio of products, serving customers across multiple business sectors, to individuals and to businesses of all sizes;
• Its services are accessible and easily-managed, with the Company providing various online channels and mobile apps;
• It has a broad international reach, providing products and services to customers across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific;
• Its industry expertise and knowledge, with the Company employing a number of specialist staff across its multiple business divisions. ### Channels

Thomson Reuters operates a website at www.thomsonreuters.com, through which customers are able to view the Company’s products and services, and find links to the Company’s other, numerous online channels, including www.elite.com, www.reuters.com, and the WestLaw legal search service. Many of the Company’s online channels and software-based solutions can be accessed through a range of mobile applications, with some products and services available to be purchased online.

Thomson Reuters principally sells its products and solutions through its in-house direct sales teams. The Company operates a network of sales offices across the Americas, Europe Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. Its direct sales operations are supported in many locations by a network of channel partners, including independent sales agents and authorised distributors.

Customer Relationships

A proportion of Thomson Reuter’s services are available on a self-service basis, with users able to register for a subscription, make payments and manage their user accounts through the Company’s online channels with no interaction with the Company’s direct sales staff.

The majority of the Company’s business comes through its subscription services. These subscriptions are typically recurring arrangements, with customers renewing their contracts on a regular basis.

Thomson Reuters other services are sold through its in-house sales team, with customers consulting directly with Company representatives in order to receive a service tailored to their situation and individual needs. Thomson Reuters provides contact details for its various departments so that customers are able to access the expertise that they require.

Thomson Reuters provides a range of technical support and training services to its customers, across its entire products range, including online resources. The Company also interacts directly with its customers through its Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram accounts.

Key Activities

Thomson Reuters operates primarily as a provider of news and information services for professional markets. It operates through four business units: Financial and Risk, comprising its critical news, information and analytics services, designed to assist clients in enabling transactions and connecting professional communities; Legal, which includes the Company’s online and print information services, and the provision of decision tools, software and services that support legal, investigation, business and government professionals; Tax and Accounting, comprising integrated tax compliance and accounting services and software products, targeted specifically at both finance and corporate professionals; and Intellectual Property and Science, which includes the Company’s intellectual property and scientific information services, and the provision of decision support services that aim to help businesses and public bodies protect their proprietary content.

Key Partners

Thomson Reuters collaborates with a range of businesses that provide complementary products and services and assist the Company in developing its own solutions. Its partners can be mostly categorised as follows:

• Consulting Partners, that provide advisory and support services to the Company;
• Hardware and Application Providers, that assist the Company in developing its various solutions;
• Integration Specialists, that assist the Company in integrating third party functionality into Thomson Reuters products;
• Media Partners, that collaborate with the Company in its news reporting activities; and
• Alliance Partners, with which the Company collaborates and shares tools, resources and technology. Thomson Reuters has partnerships in place with a number of leading companies and institutions, such as Deloitte Consulting, Variety, IBM, Cordon Press, Access Group, Western Union Business Solutions, and City National Bank.

Key Resources

Thomson Reuters’s key resources are its software solutions and technology, its IT infrastructure, its network of partners, its sales channels and its personnel. The Company owns a range of intellectual property assets, including patents, trademarks, trade secrets, databases and copyrights.

Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified several applications filed in the name of Thomson Reuters, including applications entitled ‘Systems, methods, and interfaces for extending legal search results’, Systems and methods for rapid delivery of tiered metadata’ and ‘Dynamic display using pushed streamed data’.

Cost Structure

Thomson Reuters incurs costs in relation to the development of its products and software solutions, the maintenance of its IT infrastructure, the operations of its sales and distribution networks, and the retention of its personnel.

The majority of the Thomson Reuters’s operating expenses are fixed. Its most significant operating expense is its personnel costs, which represented 55% of the Company’s total 2015 expenses, comprising the payment of salaries, bonuses, commissions, benefits, and payroll taxes. The Company also accrues substantial costs in the form of rent and utilities across its international network of offices.

Revenue Streams

Thomson Reuters primarily generates revenue through the sale of various electronic content and services. It divides these services into four lines of business:

• Corporate, including revenue from the sale of global and local tax compliance, workflow and data management software and services;
• Professional, including revenue from tax, accounting, audit, payroll, document management, client portals and practice management applications and services;
• Knowledge Solutions, including revenue from information, research, workflow tools and certified professional education; and
• Government, including revenue from integrated property tax management and land registry solutions. In 2015, Thomson Reuters generated 12.2 billion in annual revenue, down slightly from the 12.6 billion recorded in 2014. Of this revenue, 40% was generated by its Corporate business line, 29% by its Professional business line, 28% by its Knowledge Solutions line, and 3% by its Government line. The Company’s Financial and Risk, and Legal segments accounted for 78% of the Company’s total annual revenue in 2015, with around 87% coming from subscription services and similar arrangements.