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Operational efficiency is a competitive necessity. Yet, 62% of firms still manage up to a quarter of their data manually, according to our research in partnership with Crisil Coalition Greenwich. The downstream impact of relying on spreadsheets, emails, and human intervention goes far beyond inefficiency.
Reconciliation errors can lead to trade breaks, lengthy disputes, and missed settlements, resulting in financial losses, regulatory fines, and reputational damage. Beyond compliance, speed matters. Manual processes are slow and resource-heavy, making it harder to act on fast-moving market opportunities and driving up operational costs.
Automation isn’t just about doing things faster – it’s about doing them smarter, safer, and more cost-effectively.
So, how do you move from manual to automated data processing without overhauling your tech stack, writing a single line of code, or waiting 18 months for implementation?
Rethinking Data Automation: Beyond Time & Cost
When firms talk about automation, and automation tools, the conversation often centers around time savings and cost reduction. These are important, but they’re only part of the story. What if the real opportunity lies in value creation?
By automating manual processes, firms don’t just save hours – they unlock the ability to redeploy talent toward innovation, strategic analysis, and client service. As a result, workflow automation becomes a catalyst for growth, not just a tool for efficiency.
Here, we explore how data automation has and will transform financial operations in the future, enabling firms to streamline workflows, reduce risk, and unlock new levels of efficiency, and, most importantly, provide a step-by-step guide on how you can do the same.
Evaluating Existing Operational Processes
Begin your journey to operational efficiency with a detailed evaluation of your current manual workflows, identifying the biggest bottlenecks, which tasks are consuming substantial time and resources; these are prime candidates for data automation.
Regulatory reporting (80%), client onboarding (79%), and reconciliations (77%) were cited as the most common processes requiring manual intervention, according to our research, with many teams citing they spend “up to a few hours” on these tasks.
The result? Firms have to set aside up to 5% of annual capital to cover the cost of manual remediation. Not a cost you need.
Once you've identified where your teams are losing the most time, the next step is to define what you want to improve and how you'll do that.
Enabling Smart Workflows Through Data Automation
According to our research, the top three drivers for change among capital markets firms are:
- Workflow improvement (34%)
- Faster issue resolution (24%)
- Enhanced risk management (10%)
To support these priorities, over half (57%) of firms plan to invest in data integration tools that enhance capture and transformation in the next 12 months, with 58% already doing so. To accelerate this further, 33% are using AI in some capacity, with another 19% planning to adopt it within the next 12 months for data enrichment, process automation, and exception handling. The result: improved accuracy, faster processing, and better compliance.
However, while many firms often focus on managing data – storing, securing, and organizing it – the real differentiator lies in how agile you are with your data. Meaning, it's not just about having well-managed data; it’s about having data that's ready to move, transform, and deliver value at speed. This requires an organizational structure that can quickly adapt to new requirements (operational or regulatory) and automatically generate reports as needed.
To do this, firms need an effective data automation platform; one that provides efficient workflow automation by extracting data from unstructured documents, seamlessly reconciling documents from various sources, and completing post-trade processing quickly and in line with regulations.
Selecting the Right Data Automation Tool & Partner
Some 33% of capital firms use up to five tools to manage their data, and 62% use two or more, primarily because 95% report that no single system covers all asset classes.
With so many firms relying on multiple tools to manage data across multiple asset classes, the challenge isn’t just automation – it’s orchestration. You need a platform that can unify fragmented processes, handle complex data types, and scale across functions without requiring deep technical expertise.
That’s where Xceptor comes in.
From reconciliations and client onboarding to regulatory reporting, and post-trade operations, Xceptor is purpose-built for the complexities of capital markets, enabling firms to ingest, transform, and deliver data across the entire trade lifecycle; streamlining processes across the board to help you unlock efficiency, reduce costs, and focus on what matters most.
The platform integrates seamlessly with your existing tech stack, so there’s no need to rip and replace. It empowers operations teams (as well as IT) to build and manage workflows using a simple drag-and-drop interface with no coding required. Whether you're working with structured, semi-structured, or unstructured data, the platform automates the heavy lifting, freeing your teams from repetitive, manual tasks and reducing operational risk across these key areas:
Data Transformation & Enrichment
- Ingest and transform data into usable formats, enrich it with external sources, and deliver it to downstream systems – all within a single platform. This eliminates the need for spreadsheets, macros, and manual rekeying.
Reconciliations
- Automate complex reconciliations across multiple systems and formats. Xceptor can match data from disparate sources, flag exceptions, and even resolve them automatically using business rules, reducing manual intervention and settlement risk.
Regulatory Reporting
- Ensure accuracy and timeliness in reporting by automating data collection, validation, and formatting. Xceptor supports compliance with evolving regulations like EMIR, MiFID II, and SFTR, reducing the risk of fines and audit failures.
Embracing an Automated & Value-Driven Future
Whether you're starting with reconciliations, trade ops, or tax, the path to automation is clear - and the tools are ready. With Xceptor, and our data automation platform, you can future-proof your operations and unlock real value.
Let’s make manual work a thing of the past. Discover how Xceptor’s intelligent data automation platform can help you streamline operations, reduce risk, and unlock the full benefits of automated data processing.
