As hedge funds’ business functions grow in complexity, more managers are turning to technology in order to execute a growing number of tasks.  New research conducted for this report highlights the extent of automation across hedge funds’ back- and middle-office business operations, with hedge funds across strategy sizes increasingly tapping into technology to handle the core components of a trade, predominantly at the allocation, risk, and reconciliation stages.    Leading the way are those firms managing assets of $1 billion or more, who are adopting automation more extensively than those with AuMs of under $1 billion, Hedgeweek data shows (see Fig.

Against a constantly evolving backdrop of advancing technology, heightened regulatory barriers, and increasingly complex business operations, the nature and profile of the hedge fund chief operational officer has transformed over the past decade.

Amid sustained economic upheaval and investment volatility, operations specialists discuss the major trends and themes that are reshaping hedge funds’ business infrastructure. 

Despite the boom in third party service provision, hedge funds’ ops infrastructure remains a mix of outsourced, cloud- and in-house processes, as COOs are keen to maintain oversight over key business functions.  The expansion in the range and quality of outsourced business functions and third-party service providers has shaken up the way the hedge fund industry assembles its operational infrastructure.