Waters
Challenge Accepté: AXA Investment Managers CIO Hervé Morel-Derocle
During one of his frequent trips to London, AXA Investment Managers CIO Hervé Morel-Derocle spoke to Marina Daras about the bold moves he made when faced with the looming obsolescence of the firm’s desktops.
The Rise and Rise of HTML5
Thanks to enhanced browser functionality and an explosion of open-source tools, HTML5 is supplanting Microsoft Silverlight and Adobe Flash as the go-to language for trading application development and mobile functionality. While roadblocks still exist,…
Herd Instinct: Financial Firms Combat Information Overload with Social Networking Tech
As financial firms deal with ever-increasing levels of information, some are starting to look at a fusion of different technologies to harness true value from the noise. As innovative uses of concepts that have traditionally been associated with social…
BMO Launches an IBOR
A merger of three investment managers had just been announced when BMO Global Asset Management made the decision to revamp its portfolio accounting procedures. What followed was a near three-year project that made the company the proud owner of an IBOR,…
Emerging Technologies: The Risks and the Rewards
In the final part of this five-part feature on emerging technologies in the capital markets, we look at the risks and the rewards associated with adopting and implementing such technologies, and how to go about striking that delicate balance between…
Emerging Technologies and Avoiding Analysis Paralysis
In part four of this five-part series on emerging technologies in the capital markets, based on a recent virtual roundtable, we look at the challenges facing CIOs when it comes to evaluating emerging technologies, and typically how they go about making…
Assessing the Implementation Challenges Associated with Emerging Technologies
In parts one and two of this five-part feature, we looked at the the technologies that typically fall under the "emerging technologies" moniker, and the operational benefits of deploying such technologies. In this section, we look at the complexities and…
Measuring the Operational Benefits of Embracing Emerging Technologies
In part two of this five-part feature on emerging technologies, participants discuss the business and operational opportunities around embracing emerging technologies, specifically the reduced cost and speed to market offered by on-demand consumption of…
Emerging Technologies special report
March 2014 - sponsored by: Advent: CenturyLink Technology Solutions; Cloudera; Green Key Technologies; Maxeler Technologies
Emerging Technologies and the Advantages they Offer Early Adopters
In a recent virtual roundtable on the benefits and challenges around the adoption of emerging technologies, respondents discussed how capital markets firms might evaluate such technologies with the view to creating a competitive advantage. In part one of…
KKR's Colorful Personality: CIO Ed Brandman
Ed Brandman’s friendly quirks don’t conjure the conventional image of an IT chief, especially at KKR, one of the more white-shoe firms in a space famous for them. But don’t let the CIO’s charms fool you. He effectively redefined enterprise-grade…
James Rundle: The Big Whimper
While derivatives markets have seen huge transformations in both the US and Europe this month, James says they haven’t brought about the Big Bang effect that many predicted.
Anthony Malakian: The Power of the Investor
Anthony says that while new reporting guidelines and technologies will help firms to make the business case to move away from spreadsheets in favor of automated systems, investors will hold the most sway in making this a reality.
Michael Shashoua: Steadying Data Flows
Data management professionals will need to achieve smooth input and output to make investment books of record into useful systems for their firms. And, Michael explains, the European Market Infrastructure Regulation rules implementation is raising…
Max Bowie: Lights, Camera, Data!
With movies about corporate espionage and greedy tycoons—from the high-flying The Wolf of Wall Street to the grimy Boiler Room—always popular, the average person’s understanding of market data and trading technologies comes from the big screen, not the…
March 2014: Breaking the Habit
Microsoft Excel as an operational tool is as flawed as it is ubiquitous on Wall Street—even the regulators are guilty of over-reliance on spreadsheets—but Victor says cutting back on its use in favor of automated processes can mean serious long-term…
Take Away Spreadsheets? From My Cold, Dead Hands
Microsoft Excel spreadsheets will continue to be widely used at asset management firms for the foreseeable future. But new regulations, technological advancements, and risk management concerns are leading buy-side firms to examine ways to lessen their…
All Eyes on Outsourcing
After UBS announced last month that it would outsource most of its fixed-income trading platform to Murex and Ion Trading, Marina Daras looks at how financial services firms intend to manage their IT costs by reassessing their outsourcing options.
Real-Time Risk: Keeping It Real
Pitches for real-time risk solutions focus more on the sell side than the buy side. Jake Thomases set out to determine how much hedge funds and asset managers care about calculating risk in the blink of an eye. Some do, but it’s largely dependent on…
Europe Takes First Steps Toward Electronic Derivatives Trading
With provisional agreement on the Mifid II text by European political authorities, electronic execution of derivatives is set to spread over the Atlantic Ocean in the near future. In terms of equivalence, interoperability, and mutual recognition, how…
February 2014: In Praise of the Corporate Plodder
I’m not sure whether there’s a formal name for them – a quick Google search suggests that my hunch is spot-on – but I regularly use a collective term to describe the drones of the business, the worker bees, the foot soldiers: corporate plodders.
Kotch's Confidence: CTO Mary Kotch Balances Family with AIG's Rebuild
AIG CTO Mary Kotch sits down with Anthony Malakian to discuss her ascent up the technology ladder to her current position, and how she manages to find a work–life balance while helping the insurance giant to restore its brand post-2008. Photos by Amy…
James Rundle: There and Back Again
In January, European political authorities provisionally agreed on a package of reforms to securities markets that will have deep consequences for financial services firms. As the technical work can now get underway, James looks at the challenges ahead…
Anthony Malakian: Learning Lessons
Anthony’s dad taught him a lesson from his own career: Sometimes great ideas come from unexpected places. It’s good, therefore, to always listen and be open to new ideas.