London, September 15 2025 — Hedge funds, asset managers and proprietary trading firms are taking greater control of margin and clearing operations, with a growing number exploring or adopting self-clearing, a new report from Acuiti has found.
Margin Management and the Rise of Self-Clearing, which is released today in partnership with FIS, highlights how regulatory changes, market conditions, cost pressures, and advances in technology are reshaping how buy-side and proprietary trading firms approach post-trade operations across global derivatives markets.
Based on a survey and interviews with 64 senior executives from leading buy-side institutions and proprietary trading firms, the report analyses how firms are taking more control over margining and clearing operations.
The rise of self-clearing on select markets by small numbers of larger hedge funds and proprietary trading firms has been a notable trend over the past five years. The report found that self-clearing is likely to become increasingly common and will not be limited to the larger firms in the market.
Overall, 44% of firms that took part in the study were open to self-clearing in the future. This is being largely driven by the SEC’s treasury clearing mandate in the US – a factor cited by 75% of respondents as an important consideration in their evaluation of self-clearing.
“With the U.S. Treasury clearing mandate acting as a catalyst, we expect the self-clearing trend to accelerate further over the next five years, although the number of exchanges that firms self-clear on is likely to remain limited,” said Acuiti’s Head of Research, Ross Lancaster.
“As firms review their technology and operational requirements to self-clear, we expect more to explore Business-Process-as-a-Service (BPaaS) options to reduce the barriers to entry.”
The report also found that 69% of respondents had taken more control over margin calculations and payments in the past five years. This has been driven by market volatility that has led to significant and often unexpected margin calls. As a result, firms are seeking to gain greater visibility and control over margin.
While larger firms have already invested in dedicated margin desks and advanced modelling tools, many smaller firms are looking to bring in technology that will provide greater visibility of margin requirements.
Meanwhile, the report finds that the shift towards cloud-based hosting of technology continues to gain momentum, with nearly 40% of firms now hosting core post-trade and risk management functions in the cloud to enhance scalability and data analytics.
“This research we’ve built in partnership with Acuiti is key for understanding how buy-side and proprietary trading firms are evolving to solve for their regulatory and market headwinds,” said Markus Schmitz, Head of Cleared Derivatives at FIS. “However, there’s a second major takeaway in the findings, and that is the discussion of how they will get there. Firms looking to take more control of operations like margin management and self-clearing will need to take a hard look at their tech stack, and cloud-based solutions are clearly going to be seen as key given the benefits gained in scalability and modularity.”
The full report, which provides a detailed breakdown of industry trends, challenges, and strategic responses, is available to download via the link here: https://www.fisglobal.com/engagement/landing/operations/margin_management_and_the_rise_of_self_clearing.
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For more information, contact Will Mitting at Acuiti
Tel.: +44 (0) 203 998 9190
Email: willmitting@acuiti.io
About Acuiti
Acuiti is a management intelligence platform designed to provide Senior Industry Professionals in the Derivatives Industry with high-value insight into industry-wide performance and business operations. Acuiti provides a platform through which our exclusive network of Senior Industry Executives can share and source information on day-to-day operational challenges, providing them and their management teams with increased transparency and in-depth analysis to make more informed decisions and benchmark company performance. Financial Institutions benefiting from our services include Banks, Non-bank FCMs, Brokers, Proprietary Trading Firms, Hedge Funds and Asset Managers.
About FIS
FIS is a financial technology company providing solutions to financial institutions, businesses, and developers. We unlock financial technology to the world across the money lifecycle underpinning the world’s financial system. Our people are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests, by helping our clients to confidently run, grow, and protect their businesses. Our expertise comes from decades of experience helping financial institutions and businesses of all sizes adapt to meet the needs of their customers by harnessing where reliability meets innovation in financial technology. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS is a member of the Fortune 500® and the Standard & Poor’s 500® Index.
To learn more, visit www.fisglobal.com. Follow FIS on Facebook, LinkedIn and X.