Buy-Side Technology Awards 2016: Best Buy-Side Collateral Management Tool—CloudMargin

What separates CloudMargin from others in this space is the fact that the platform is entirely cloud-based. This is one of its biggest differentiators from its competitors and allows CloudMargin to provide the most benefits to clients, according to Karl Wyborn, global head of sales for CloudMargin.

First, thanks to its location in the cloud, the platform can be deployed quickly. Wyborn says clients can be live within four weeks, compared to months or possibly even years of waiting for locally installed technologies to be rolled out by other vendors. Client logins are available on the day CloudMargin meets with prospective clients, allowing them to use the live platform before purchasing.

All of this allows for a lower cost of ownership, as the CloudMargin community shares the price of the platform between its users. Wyborn says the system is roughly 75 percent cheaper than its competitors, although despite its lower cost, CloudMargin releases new functionality on a weekly basis, which is free of charge. 

Some of the biggest enhancements over the past 12 months, according to Wyborn, include offering clients direct central counterparty clearing (CCP) connectivity as standard, enhancing the real-time collateral optimization platform twice during the course of the last year, and providing a Swift gateway that can send the full range of Swift messages. 

Looking ahead, Wyborn says users can expect more optimization functionality, an enhanced user interface and deeper Swift integration as major enhancements over the next 12 months. 

It’s tough to label something as a dynasty after only two years in command, but CloudMargin is certainly making a case for why it is the dominant collateral management tool for the buy side.

Sally Shackleton, global head of collateral operations for UBS, says CloudMargin’s solution addresses the most pressing collateral management needs of the industry.

“The advent of the uncleared margin rules requires firms to invest in collateral operations technology,” Shackleton explains. “While larger firms have invested in technology that brings straight-through processing (STP) through interoperability with industry service providers, true STP can only be achieved when the majority of market participants also have this capability. The CloudMargin platform brings an innovative solution at a time when it is needed most,” she says.