January/February 2010
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THE RISE OF THE BACK OFFICE
Robert DeVault, Transamerica Asset Management
Robert DeVault, Transamerica Asset Management

 10 Trends That Are Reshaping the Wall Street Back Office
With new regulations on the way and calls for greater scrutiny and transparency into how financial instruments are priced and cleared, the importance of a strong back office and the status of the beleaguered operations manager are destined to rise in 2010. Here are 10 developments that are reshaping Wall Street's operations departments and the technology they use.

Transamerica Finds Back-Office Efficiency, Accuracy Through Insourcing
Asset manager saves money and improves the accuracy of data by pulling fund administration back in-house.

Document Automation Helps Diversified Investment Advisors Decreases Ops Budget by $1.3 Million
Print-on-demand capabilities help investment advisory firm eliminate manual document generation processes.

Futures Exchange ELX Blends Hosted and Homegrown Ops Platforms
Billing and member communications are two of the functions for which the nascent exchange has turned to software as a service.

UPDATE
Cantor Fitzgerald Hopes to Bring Spread Betting to Las Vegas Casinos
Brokerage's Cantor Gaming subsidiary already makes markets for spread betting in the U.K. and sports wagering in Las Vegas resorts. Next, it hopes regulators will permit spread betting in Nevada.

How BNY Mellon Built A Firm-Wide BI Platform
Business intelligence is giving BNY Mellon's institutional salespeople new views of projects and performance; in some cases they know more about a client's business than the client does.

SWIFT's Restructuring in North America Includes Layoffs
SWIFT's Commercial group reduces staff as part of plan to cut $132 million in global operating expenses.

 FROM THE EDITOR
Back Office: Time to Pay the Piper
With increasing complexity and the need for more highly automated operations, the back office will require increased innovation and continued investment.

TRADING
Alpha Capture Systems Measure the Value of Sell-Side Trade Ideas
To drum up commissions, sell-side sales professionals increasingly are communicating trade ideas to buy-side clients via alpha capture systems such as youDevise's Trade Information Monitor, which provide performance metrics around the trade ideas.

The Search for Alpha: Analyzing Unstructured Data
Researchers and Wall Street firms are analyzing the avalanche of Internet content -- including news feeds, blogs and Twitter posts -- to help improve trading performance.

IT SPENDING
2010 IT Spending to Rise 6%, CIOs Cautiously Optimistic
Capital markets firms will spend almost $42 billon on technology globally in 2010, up from an expected $39.7 billion in 2009 and $41.8 billion in 2008, according to a soon-to-be-released study from Aite Group.

CLOSE UP
Insider Trading: Can It Be Stopped?
With the SEC under pressure to salvage its battered reputation, the regulator has been acting with newfound zeal to eliminate insider trading.

TECHNOLOGY ECONOMICS
An Examination of 2010 IT Spending: The World Isn't Flat
While overall IT spending may appear flat, analysis of underlying spending patterns reveals some definite strategic ripples.

INDUSTRY VOICE
Evaluating Outsourcing Options
The technology and capabilities of outsourced portfolio management systems offer functionality that is comparable to their installed counterparts. But not all outsourced solutions are created equal.

What Is the Middle-Office Role in Data Management?
Firms' middle offices must validate data in near real time before it is sent downstream.

PERSPECTIVES
Executive Compensation Limits Could Have Far-Reaching Consequences
The pay czar, the banker tax, pending legislation, shareholder lawsuits and a popular revolt all are vying to change Wall Street compensation.

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