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London – 9 April 2026: Over half of sell-side execution desks focused on listed derivatives still rely on spreadsheets or email to manage pre-trade risk limits, and fewer than half have automated their data management processes for setting client limits, the latest Acuiti Sell-Side Execution Management Insight Report has found.
The quarterly Sell-Side Execution Management Insight Report is based on a survey of the Acuiti Sell-Side Execution Expert Network, comprising senior executives from banks and brokerages across the globe. This quarter’s report takes a deep dive into pre-trade limits and risk management in partnership with KRM22.
The report reveals that manual models of data management remain prevalent in pre-trade risk and limit management for many firms across the sell-side. Just 46% of firms have automated their processes for setting pre-trade risk limits for clients, while 34% are still using spreadsheets and 20% relying on email or chat messages.
Despite recent regulatory and commercial pressures that have prompted extensive internal reviews across execution desks, the market still has some way to go in terms of automating limits management.
Only 29% of the network have invested in consolidating limit management across asset classes, though nearly half say they are planning to do so. Among those firms that have made the investment, all said it had brought benefits, with a quarter saying it had driven significant efficiencies.
Integration between limit and risk management functions also remains a challenge. Just 37% of the network say that viewing a client’s risk details in light of a limits change request is easy and can be handled by a single employee and more than half say it requires dialogue between different desks.
“This quarter’s report reveals a divide across the sell-side between those firms that have invested in pre-trade risk and limit management automation and those that haven’t,” says Ross Lancaster, Head of Research at Acuiti.
“This divide is likely to grow as volumes and volatility continue to soar and markets move towards a 24/7 cycle, which will require significant investment in automation.”
Momentum is building, however. Thirty-seven percent of firms say they have an active project or budget allocated to consolidating execution risk and limit management, with a further 29% in active discussion.
Dan Carter, KRM22 CEO, says: “These findings highlight a pivotal moment for the sell side. As volumes rise and markets accelerate toward a 24/7 trading cycle, the traditional, manual approach to managing limits and risk is no longer sustainable. Firms that invest now in automation and consolidated risk frameworks will be the ones best positioned to serve clients safely, efficiently, and competitively. At KRM22, we’re committed to helping our customers move beyond spreadsheets and fragmented processes so they can operate with the resilience and agility that today’s markets demand.”
Other key findings in this quarter’s report include:
- AI adoption is advancing but uneven across sell-side execution desks: Just over half of firms have AI operating in select front-office production use cases, while more than a quarter report no meaningful adoption at all.
- Testing client algorithms remains a persistent operational challenge: Only 4% of firms describe exchange requests to test and validate client algorithms as straightforward, with a quarter saying it is either very challenging or impossible.
- Firms are divided on ICE’s updated ATS ID registration requirements: 40% describe it as very complicated and 7% say it is impossible.
- Exchange fire drills remain an unwelcome burden for most execution desks: Seventy-nine percent of respondents describe exchange fire drills as at least a small inconvenience, with 35% calling them a significant disruption to desk operations.
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For more information
Contact Hena Hadi at Acuiti
Email: henahadi@acuiti.io
Tel.: +44 (0) 203 998 9190
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 KRM22
KRM22 is a closed-ended investment company which listed on AIM on 30 April 2018. The Company has been established with the objective of creating value for its investors through the investment in, and subsequent growth and development of, target companies in the technology and software sector, with a focus on risk management in capital markets.
Through its investments and the Global Risk Platform, KRM22 helps capital market companies reduce the cost and complexity of risk management. The Global Risk Platform provides applications to help address firms’ trading and corporate risk challenges and to manage their entire enterprise risk profile.
Capital markets companies’ partner with KRM22 to optimise risk management systems and processes, improving profitability and expanding opportunities to increase portfolio returns by leveraging risk as alpha.
KRM22 plc is listed on AIM and the Group is headquartered in London, with offices in several of the world’s major financial centres.