BST Awards 2020: Best buy-side collateral management tool—CloudMargin

CloudMargin is the winner of the best collateral management tool category in the BST Awards for the second year in a row. New regulations under Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR) relating to initial margin (IM) and variation margin (VM) have made it critical for buy-side firms to have centralized connectivity to the relevant platforms and standardization so that they can optimize their collateral management processes and deploy resources more strategically. CloudMargin’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud-based approach address those challenges through one platform, covering all cleared and non-cleared assets, dealer data, major custodial connections, regulatory requirements associated with IM and VM, and workflow steps in one place. Users can automate these steps and create checks across the process.  

In September, CloudMargin closed a $15 million funding round with Deutsche Börse, Deutsche Bank and Citi as primary investors. Stuart Connolly, CEO of CloudMargin, says the majority of the funding will go into research and development (R&D) and scalability of its single-instance platform.

“We’ve laid out an ambitious product delivery roadmap with a focus on client-usable, rich functionality that helps clients improve their operational processes and efficiency,” he says. 

CloudMargin’s priorities over the next year include building on integrations with its strategic partners, including AcadiaSoft, IHS Markit, and Finastra. It will also enhance several functionalities to help clients meet their UMR requirements. Some of these efforts will include additional inbound APIs, a new optimization API, integration with additional settlement service providers, and enhanced capabilities for cleared over-the-counter (OTC) and exchange-traded derivatives. 

In the last 12 months, CloudMargin has partnered with AcadiaSoft and according to Connolly, the two plan to merge cloud technology and workflow functionality with automated messaging services to build out a true networked central hub. “Our vision is to eliminate manual processes from the industry to create a safer, more efficient process via a networked platform as a single central point,” he says. “Buy-side firms can gain substantially more visibility, control and efficient use of collateral firm-wide through our SaaS platform.”