Technology budgets among finance professionals are to increasingly focus on transformational initiatives over the next two years, a new survey has shown.

Risk, trading and compliance are to be the main areas of IT investment between now and 2011, the joint research from IBM and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association revealed.

Findings from the study showed that more than half of the IT professionals questioned cited systemic risk as the main area of investment.

Up to 37 per cent said risk analytic compliance was the most attractive investment opportunity while nearly every executive questioned anticipated increasing budgets for this area of their business.

Shanker Ramamurthy, general manager of IBM Financial Services Sector, said: “Coming out of the largest financial crisis in modern day history, there has never been a more important time for firms to capitalize on technology investments to make sense of the data and gain a more sophisticated understanding of risks.

"The road to recovery is built on infusing intelligence across operations, streamlining costs and getting back to basics so that firms once again focus on innovation and growth.”

Further findings from the study showed that the use of technology for financial firms has also changed.

As worries over economic turmoil fade, more companies are using IT to innovate practices surrounding risk and portfolio management, the survey said.

Nearly 250 businesses and technology executives from Wall Street were questioned as part of the study.

Source: bobsguide