Gain or Pain - Automating the OTC and Structured Products Markets

A whitepaper produced by WatersTechnology in collaboration with Numerix explores the increased demand from firms from both the sell side and buy side of the industry to automate the front-office processes around their OTC and structured products businesses; the technology, operational and business-case challenges they must consider when embarking on such a project; the tangible business benefits they stand to glean on the back of more systematized and efficient front-office processes supporting these exotic instruments; and the steps to take when seeking to adopt automation.

The paper also reveals insightful results of a WatersTechnology survey that addresses such questions as, among others:

• The extent to which firms (from 150 survey respondents) automated their front-office trading activities/functions/platforms
• The asset classes or instruments that are the most problematic in automation/electronification
• The challenges that exist with automating/electronifying manually intensive front-office trading functions and applications
• Where respondents intend to source the technology to automate manual functions
• The importance of AI and machine learning in the electronification of OTC and structured products