For two years running, capital markets financial institutions have told us that “greater speed and agility” is one of the leading priorities driving their technology strategy. Geopolitical, regulatory and market events continue to validate that as the right focus. Buy and sell side firms have always looked to gain agility through technology investments, but offering optionality to the business has increased in priority due to shift to client-centric product innovation and the evolving nature of capital markets ecosystems.

For 2025 we have identified five business trends that are key to driving technology investment across capital markets.

These five themes also guide our research agenda throughout this year. Some of these may be familiar having evolved from past themes; the differences, however nuanced, are clear when evaluated with specific market structure, regulatory and emerging technology trends on the buy and sell side.

In these challenging times one thing is certain: none of us can go it alone. As you face hard decisions in the areas of technology and partnerships, Celent is here to support you. We can help you vet partners and technologies as you respond to competitive, market and regulatory initiatives, the changing needs of your customers, and growing cost pressures.

As always, we’ll look to be nimble and respond to fast-moving developments in our research space. If you have a topic in mind, where our research could add value to your organization, please get in touch so we can discuss and consider incorporating it into our quarterly research agendas in the coming year.

The table below presents the range of our insights delivered to you and presented in these research agendas. All our published research falls into three major categories and eight distinct types of insights, each bringing different benefits to our clients, and this is how we organize the presentation of published and upcoming insights.