Investment Operations
Trade operations outsourcing, from execution to settlement
Every trade has to be captured, enriched, allocated, matched and settled before it can be trusted. Fundtec’s trade operations team runs that lifecycle daily, across listed and OTC instruments.
In one minute
Trade operations is the post-execution process that makes a trade final: capture, enrichment, allocation, matching and affirmation, confirmation, settlement and fails management, supported by a clean security master and corporate actions processing. Fundtec provides outsourced trade operations for hedge funds and asset managers across equities, fixed income, FX and OTC derivatives, working on the client’s systems or on Tychi.
Managers whose desk, administrator and investors need to see the same numbers, and whose middle office has outgrown spreadsheets or a stretched in-house team.
A 30-minute scoping call, then a written plan: scope, the transition timeline and indicative pricing. No generic proposal.
What trade operations covers
Trade operations starts the moment an order is executed and ends when cash and securities have moved and the position is correct in every system that holds it. In between sit a series of steps where small errors become expensive: a wrong settlement instruction, a missed allocation, an unconfirmed swap, a corporate action booked a day late.
Fundtec’s trade operations team is one of the four services in our middle office. It runs the full lifecycle for listed and OTC instruments, keeps the security master clean and processes corporate actions so that positions, P&L and the investment book of record agree with prime brokers, custodians and the administrator.
How the trade lifecycle is managed
The daily sequence our analysts follow for each fund. Cut-off times are set by market and settlement cycle.
Capture
Executions are pulled from the OMS, broker files or FIX drop copies and checked for completeness against the blotter. Late or manual trades are flagged.
Enrichment
Each trade is enriched with settlement instructions, commissions, fees, accrued interest, FX and the correct instrument reference from the security master.
Allocation
Block trades are allocated to funds and accounts according to the pre-trade allocation policy, with exceptions documented and approved.
Matching and affirmation
Trades are matched with brokers and affirmed through platforms such as DTCC’s CTM (formerly Omgeo) or directly with the counterparty, within market affirmation deadlines.
Confirmation
OTC trades are confirmed against term sheets and ISDA documentation; economic terms are checked before booking is finalized.
Settlement and fails
Settlement status is monitored through the day. Settlement fails are chased with the counterparty, logged, aged and escalated until resolved.
Trade operations scope by instrument type
| Instrument | Key trade ops tasks | Common break sources |
|---|---|---|
| Listed equities and ETFs | Capture, allocation, CTM affirmation, settlement monitoring | Commission differences, allocation errors, SSI mismatches |
| Fixed income | Accrued interest checks, factor updates, settlement | Accrual day-count, pool factors, partial settlements |
| Futures and listed options | Clearing broker recs, expiries, exercises and assignments | Missed expiries, variation margin timing |
| FX spot and forwards | Confirmation matching, value-date control, roll processing | Rate or value-date mismatches, missed rolls |
| OTC derivatives (swaps, CDS, swaptions) | Term confirmation, lifecycle events, resets, ISDA/CSA alignment | Reset rates, notional changes, unconfirmed amendments |
| Bank loans | Trade settlement via loan platforms, delayed compensation | Long settlement cycles, assignment status |
Security master and corporate actions
- 01
Security master maintenance
New instruments are set up before they trade, with identifiers, pricing source, accrual conventions and classification. Duplicates and stale records are cleaned up so every downstream system prices and reports the same instrument the same way.
- 02
Corporate actions processing
Dividends, splits, mergers, spin-offs, rights issues, tenders and coupon events are captured from vendor feeds and custodian notices, validated, and booked on ex-date. Elective events are sent to the portfolio manager with a response deadline and tracked to completion.
- 03
OTC and ISDA trades
We book OTC trades against the governing ISDA and CSA, track lifecycle events such as resets, partial terminations and novations, and reconcile trade terms and valuations to counterparty statements.
- 04
Trade breaks
Every trade break is logged with its owner, root cause and expected resolution date. Recurring causes are fed back into SSIs, allocation rules or the security master so they do not repeat.
Daily trade operations deliverables
- Trade capture completeness check against OMS and broker files
- Unmatched and unaffirmed trade report before market cut-offs
- Settlement status and fails report with aging and counterparty responses
- New security set-up log and security master exceptions
- Corporate actions calendar, elections outstanding and booked events
- OTC confirmation status and lifecycle events booked
- Break-aging log with root cause and escalation status
How trade operations connects to the rest of the middle office
A failed trade is also a cash forecast problem and a P&L problem. Because Fundtec’s trade ops analysts sit in the same pod as treasury operations and reconciliation, a fail is flagged to treasury for funding and to product control for P&L in the same morning, not discovered at month-end.
Clean trade data is also what makes a straight-through investment book of record possible. Clients rebuilding that layer should read about IBOR/ABOR setup; clients adding volume or new brokers should see scale your investment operations.
Engagement model
How an engagement is structured
Economics aligned to your growth. Scope, cadence and pricing are confirmed jointly in the first phase.
- 01 · Weeks 1–4
Onboarding & design
A phase-linked fee covers process mapping, the operational handbook, systems access and the SLA framework — before any handover.
- Target operating model
- Operational handbook
- SLAs agreed jointly
- 02 · From the parallel run
Monthly base fee
Your dedicated team, pod manager oversight and the governance cadence — daily huddle, weekly review, monthly service review, QBR.
- Named PM → SME
- Trained backup for every role
- Governance included
- 03 · As you grow
Scales with AUM
AUM-linked tiers and pre-agreed triggers for new mandates or counterparties — so growth never means renegotiating the contract.
- Transparent triggers
- No renegotiation
- Quarterly pricing review
Every engagement starts with a scoping call — no obligation, no generic proposal.
Request an indicative proposalQuestions
Common questions about Trade Operations
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Ask a specialistFrequently asked questions
What is included in outsourced trade operations?
Outsourced trade operations at Fundtec covers trade capture, enrichment, allocation, matching and affirmation, OTC confirmation, settlement monitoring and fails management. It also includes security master maintenance and corporate actions processing, because both directly affect whether positions and P&L are right. The exact scope and cut-off times are agreed per fund during onboarding.
Do you use DTCC CTM for trade affirmation?
Where the client has a CTM subscription, Fundtec’s analysts work in it to match and affirm trades with executing brokers. Where a client does not use CTM, we match and affirm through broker portals, email confirmations or the client’s OMS. The platform belongs to the client; Fundtec runs the process and the controls around it.
How do you handle settlement fails?
Settlement fails are identified from custodian and prime broker status reports, logged with the counterparty and reason, and chased until resolved. Each fail is aged and escalated under an agreed matrix. Treasury is told about any funding impact the same day, and recurring causes such as incorrect settlement instructions are fixed at source.
Can Fundtec process OTC derivative trades?
Yes. Fundtec books and confirms OTC trades such as interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, swaptions and FX forwards against the governing ISDA and credit support annex. We track lifecycle events including resets, amendments, partial terminations and novations, and reconcile terms and valuations to counterparty statements.
Why does the security master matter for trade operations?
The security master is the reference data every system uses to price, accrue and report an instrument. If an identifier, day-count convention or pricing source is wrong, the error flows into P&L, NAV and investor reports. Fundtec sets up new securities before they trade and cleans existing records so all systems describe each instrument the same way.
What trading hours does the trade operations team cover?
Fundtec provides 24/5 coverage, so trade operations can follow US, European and Asian market sessions. For most clients the team works to the settlement and affirmation deadlines of the markets traded, with same-day escalation of anything unmatched before cut-off. Coverage windows are set out in the SLA.
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Share your instrument mix, brokers and current break volumes. We will show how Fundtec’s trade operations team would run the lifecycle.