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Forum and Function: Ideas Spring from Online Forums
Behind the big, complex ideas that make financial technology work, there is one small, simple idea. Jake Thomases looks beneath the million-dollar buzzwords at the humble internet forum, which is helping to spread big ideas faster than ever before.
Layer Cake: The Rise of Platform-as-a-Service
Cloud is the catch-all term encompassing a number of different components. Of those, software-as-a-service is the most prominent, although platform-as-a-service now offers similar, predominantly hardware-focused benefits to the financial services…
Momentum Trading's Garrett Nenner Combines Tech Savvy with Human Logic
Garrett Nenner has spent the last two decades shuffling between the sell-side and buy-side worlds. Now at broker Momentum Trading, Nenner has learned to combine technological savvy with human logic. By Anthony Malakian with photos by Amy Fletcher
Cantor Fitzgerald CTO Todd Berlent Runs Technology Like an Ultra-Marathon
Whether developing corporate strategy or completing an ultra-marathon, Todd Berlent exhibits a relentlessness few might expect from a CTO. But, as he sets about implementing a broader vision for technology at Cantor Fitzgerald, fewer still should…
Speed Trap: The Challenge of Risk Management On Demand
Volatility in the markets, the advent of algorithmic trading strategies, and ever-increasing trading volumes at faster speeds have led to the need for risk aggregation that can be run on demand, writes Steve Dew-Jones.
July 2012: People Power
Technology may be the driver of the industry, but Victor says people and their relationships are at the heart of it.
Vendor Relationships: What Lies Beneath
Consensus among buy-side firms is that there can sometimes be a world of difference between expectations and reality when dealing with a vendor. Steve Dew-Jones canvasses opinion on the most important considerations before awarding a technology or…
When It Comes to Mobile, All Devices Welcome
Phones and tablets aren’t just for Angry Birds. Mobile devices have allowed financial professionals to operate on a 24/7 basis, and be less attached to the office. Jake Thomases explores whether they should be allowed to embed work functionality into…
TCA: Comparing Apples to Apples
As transaction-cost analysis continues to evolve, both the buy and sell sides are using it not only to determine performance levels, but in all areas of the trade lifecycle. Given these developments, what are the key considerations for an effective TCA…
Open Platform: Heading for the Cloud
The cloud has been around for sufficient time for its presence to have permeated every technology-reliant industry vertical. But as Hani Suleiman explains, the financial services industry is way behind the curve in terms of its adoption and must get its…
Open Platform: Cloud Is the New Normal
The rise in popularity of the cloud—especially across the buy side where asset managers are looking to do more with less, while simultaneously shrinking their technology spending—has been nothing short of astronomic. A recent TowerGroup forecast predicts…
60 Seconds with ... Michael Madigan, Chelsea Technologies
Michael Madigan, client services director, Chelsea Technologies
AllianceBernstein Tames the Onboarding Beast
AllianceBernstein was struggling with its manually intensive onboarding process. It turned to Markit to answer the challenge. The result: Markit Document Exchange, which, as Anthony Malakian discovers, has proven to be something of a rarity in the…
Bribery Meets Its Match: Technology, Regulation Combat Corruption
No longer a “cost of doing business,” bribery and corruption on UK soil—or perpetrated through a UK-based firm anywhere in the world—have become serious offenses under sweeping legislation passed last year. Tim Bourgaize Murray finds, with authorities…
Short Circuit: Does Flash Crash II Still Loom?
Two years after the Flash Crash, an event of similar proportions has yet to occur, despite doomsday prophecies to the contrary. Have measures such as circuit-breakers helped to safeguard the stability of modern capital markets, and more importantly, have…
Michael Shashoua: Stability Board See-Saw
The ISO standards organization, at the behest of the Financial Stability Board, removed Swift as the registration authority for the legal entity identifier. Michael thinks the industry may be left wondering what the board intends to do in setting a…
Anthony Malakian: Hope in One Hand ...
Even as the first wave of requirements for Form PF rules approach, Anthony wonders if it makes any sense for buy-side firms to throw money at solving regulatory demands in an election year when so many rules have already been delayed or scrapped.
Max Bowie: Speed Is Nothing Without Control
With the Sifma technology show upon us, vendors are showcasing their wares—often with a focus on speed and throughput. But in a regulatory environment placing greater emphasis on risk checks and compliance, firms are also expecting these solutions to…
Jake Thomases: Blissfully Ignorant
At a meeting of the Secret Science Club, Jake stumbled across one very smart man who celebrates when he doesn’t have the answers. Wall Street, on the other hand, is full of very smart people who get paid for nothing but answers. Academia never seemed so…
South Africa: Bigger, Better, Faster?
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is moving its trading engine from London to South Africa in July, with the aim of increasing its matching speeds, and by so doing, enhancing the overall trading experience it provides its clients. Steve Dew-Jones talks to…
Well-Suited: Steve Ellis Merges Wells Fargo, Wachovia IT
People think of bankers and technologists as being a bit square. Steve Ellis broke the mold, then set the pieces on fire. Wells Fargo took a chance on him, and is now reaping the rewards. By Jake Thomases with photos by Amy Fletcher
Hedge Funds Sharpen Focus on Collateral Management Tools
From equity finance add-ons to collateral transformation, hedge funds are scrutinizing their broker relationships and collateral allocation more than ever. Tim Bourgaize Murray explores how funds, seeking to mitigate operational risk, are warming to…
Big Data: Right Here, Right Now
Much has already been published in Waters and sibling publications Inside Market Data and Inside Reference Data, about Big Data and the challenges it presents financial services end-users and technologists. And while these challenges should not be…
Cloud Computing: Defying Definition
Cloud-based services, depending on one’s definition of the cloud, have been knocking around the financial services industry for more than a decade. And, given the maturity and pervasiveness of certain cloud platforms, large numbers of users are utilizing…