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Transcend
Global Custodian interviewed Transcend founder Bimal Kadikar in February this year and discovered the story behind the startup establish in 2013 . He explained how – during his time at Citi where he led an initiative called CLM [ collateral , liquidity , and margin ] – he came across an opportunity to do something entrepreneurial after spotting gaps in collateral processes and disconnections between teams . This was leaving potential savings on the table . “ As you know , at that time [ 2008 / 2009 ] liquidity was a very , very big deal for many of the large players ,” he explained . “ The work that we did on that with a relatively small budget and in a relatively short timeframe went all the way to the board . That was surprising , because in big banks , unless you ’ re spending a billion dollars on technology , the board doesn ’ t really see these things . Here we were spending less than $ 2 million and our work was going to the board . I knew then we were onto something and I guess the techie in me always wanted to do something entrepreneurial . “ With Transcend , we always knew we wanted to focus on this space , which was evolving rapidly . It was very confusing , everybody had different ideas about where it was going to go . That ’ s where I got excited , because it is complex , it ’ s difficult and it cuts across silos .” Regulatory and economic factors post-financial crisis have imposed much stricter requirements for clearing as well as collateralising uncleared transactions to de-risk the financial system . These drivers have resulted in
ELEVATOR PITCH
Transcend enables capital markets firms to optimise collateral , funding and liquidity through innovative technology .
convergence of collateralised businesses such as equity finance , fixed income repos , cleared ( CCP ) margin , uncleared ( UMR ) margin , and prime – to name a few - to coordinate with each other to drive efficiencies at the firm level . While each of these businesses has an operating platform and set of systems , it is difficult for firms to holistically view collateral , liquidity and funding dimensions across all of them . As a result , valuable collateral may be trapped in silos resulting in significant real and opportunity costs for the firm .
Notable partners and collaborators : Wells Fargo
Transcend says its own client experiences indicate that there is 10-15 bp of efficiencies that can be unlocked if firms can mobilise these assets for appropriate uses . The fintech looks to helps its clients by providing analytics , optimisation and automation solutions that can be applied at a business level and scaled across the enterprise . “ This space ( intersection of margin , collateral , liquidity & funding ) is undergoing a series of changes , from greater transparency and wider adoption of optimisation tools to a growing reliance on data and the emergence of ESG ,” the firm tells Global Custodian . “ Amidst all of these changes , Transcend has positioned itself at the centre , setting the industry-wide standard for optimising inventory , funding and liquidity decisions and delivering unparalleled innovation for both the buy and sell-side . To accelerate and realise its mission , Transend has grown its team 35 % over the past 12 months , including hires with backgrounds at Morgan Stanley , FIS and CME . There have also been a number of launches such as the industry ’ s first optimisation solution that holistically and seamlessly integrates ESG criteria into collateral workflows and analytics and Eligibility Central , an end-to-end platform that delivers access to realtime collateral eligibility information and analytics that empowers clients to accelerate critical collateral functionality , such as optimisation and mobilisation .
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