Pirum’s new global head of sales, Mark Schilling, explains his move to the technology firm and what’s in store this year and next
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What prompted you to take the role of global head of sales at Pirum?
The chance to join Pirum Systems was an opportunity that was too good to pass up. It’s no secret that our industry is going through a unique change specifically within the technology space, and Pirum has a reputation for delivering superior technology coupled with excellent customer service. Financial technology is clearly not a new concept, but it’s continually gaining more attention. With financial institutions facing increased pressure both from a regulatory and financial perspective, they need scalable solutions to help them cope with the ever-changing environment.
This creates huge opportunities for firms such as Pirum. Given the competitive advantage that Pirum experiences with its Real-Time service as well as its Central Counterparty (CCP) Gateway, it is well positioned for exciting growth. This in and of itself is an attractive proposition. Streamlining of products and services is a trend that will continue and Pirum is at the forefront of providing high-quality technology solutions for its clients.
What do the next 12 months have in store for Pirum?
The next 12 months promise to be an exciting and innovative time for Pirum. While we continue to focus on our core products and services for our existing clients, we are also experiencing an upsurge of going live with new clients. As a result, we’ve increased our headcount by 25 percent and will look to continue this trend as the client book expands.
We’ve stepped up our efforts in research and development as a result of conversations with our customers and have identified a few opportunities that are currently being explored in greater detail. From a sales and marketing perspective, we’re looking to continue to increase our efforts across Europe as well as expand our sales initiatives in North America.
What has changed at Pirum since Five Arrows Principal Investments and Camwell Management acquired a stake in the business?
The strategic investment from Five Arrows Principal Investments and Camwell Management has had an immediate positive impact on our overall business. Having such high calibre investors on side allows the management team to access unparalleled expertise and knowledge. Both Five Arrows and Camwell have extensive insight into the securities finance business, as well as strong competency in strategic planning. The investment also represents a strong vote of confidence in Pirum’s prospects going forward as a leading technology provider.
What work is currently being done with Eurex Clearing on the Lending CCP?
Our partnership with Eurex Clearing remains as strong as ever and the list of clients currently coming on board is continually expanding. This year has brought record flows through Pirum and volumes are expected to continue to grow as move toward the end of the year.
Pirum is working closely with Eurex Clearing and our clients on several enhancements to the service for delivery in both 2015 and 2016. These enhancements will provide additional ways to trade via the CCP, and will further advance our existing straight-through processing even further. The most notable recent enhancement to the service is the ability to trade versus cash collateral on a pooled basis.
Pirum is also working closely with clients to automate as much of the operational processes internally, downstream of the CCP. These include building custom feeds for statuses and settlement information, as well as automated bulked cash pool marks and reporting.
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