On 23rd May 2024, Illuminate Financial brought together experts from three leading fintech companies—CloudMargin, Baton Systems, and Wematch.live—to discuss the past, present, and future of collateral management in financial markets. The panel provided valuable insights into the challenges faced by the industry and the innovative solutions being developed to address them.

Mark Beeston, the moderator and Founder and Managing Partner at Illuminate Financial kicked off the discussion by highlighting the significant progress made in collateral management over the past few decades. From manual processes and spreadsheets to more automated and streamlined solutions, the industry has come a long way. However, challenges such as fragmentation, lack of standardisation, and the need for real-time inventory management and asset mobilisation still persist.

Helen Nicol, Head of Product at CloudMargin emphasised the importance of a cross-asset approach to collateral management. CloudMargin’s platform focuses on providing transparency, consistency, and automation to help clients reduce manual processes and increase efficiency. With over 210 client groups globally, CloudMargin has seen a 35% growth in revenue over the past year, demonstrating the increasing demand for advanced collateral management solutions.

David Raccat, Co-Founder and CRO at Wematch discussed their one-stop-shop approach to securities financing products, including Total Return Swaps, securities lending, and collateral upgrades. Wematch offers a range of modules, including multilateral matching, negotiation protocols, lifecycle management, and portfolio optimisation. The platform has seen substantial growth, with volumes increasing significantly in recent years.

Arjun Jayaram, Founder and CEO at Baton Systems stressed the importance of real-time systems and the need to transform markets by solving the biggest problems faced by the largest banks. Baton Systems has established itself as a leader in cleared derivatives margin movements, settling over $16 trillion in asset value to date. Jayaram emphasised the need for modular, decentralised systems that allow for best-of-breed solutions and continuous innovation.

Looking to the future, the panellists agreed that the collateral management space is poised for significant transformation. Trends like the digitisation and tokenisation of assets, real-time settlement, and the potential for collateral optimisation to become a revenue centre for financial institutions are expected to shape the industry in the coming years. The panellists also stressed the importance of interoperability and collaboration among fintech providers to create a more efficient and effective ecosystem.

In conclusion, the panel discussion hosted by Illuminate Financial provided a comprehensive overview of the collateral management landscape, highlighting the key challenges, innovative solutions, and future trends. As the industry continues to evolve, fintech companies like CloudMargin, Baton Systems, and Wematch are well-positioned to drive the transformation and help financial institutions navigate the complexities of collateral management in an increasingly digital and interconnected world.

To learn more about Wematch.live, please reach out.

Photo by Simon Abrams on Unsplash

The views and opinions expressed are for informational and educational purposes only as of the time of the writing/production and may change at any time. The material may contain “forward-looking” information that is not purely historical in nature. Such information may include, among other things, projections, forecasts, estimates of market returns, and proposed or expected portfolio composition. All information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. There is no representation or warranty as to the current accuracy, reliability or completeness of, nor liability for, decisions based on such information and it should not be relied on as such.