Written for and published by The Financial Technologist: The Most Influential financial Technology Firms of 2025
TRG Screen is proud to the featured on this list – curated by a panel of industry leaders to highlight the most innovative and disruptive firms in the sector. Read the special publication here.
Market data has never been more valuable… or more
challenging to manage.
Financial firms are spending more than ever on data – yet many lack a clear view of what they’re paying for, how it’s being used or whether they’re even compliant with vendor agreements.
For years, market data was seen as a cost of doing business. But with annual industry-wide cost increases exceeding 12%, market data remains one of the largest operational costs in financial
services, just behind personnel and real estate. At the same time, firms are struggling to find skilled talent with the knowledge to control these costs effectively and to stay compliant.
So, while firms continue to invest heavily in data, the real question is: Do they have the technology, insights and expertise to stay in control? Or is cost and complexity outpacing their
ability to manage it?
For firms that fully understand their data landscape, market data is a strategic asset, managed with the same rigor as other corporate investments. For those that don’t, spiraling expenses and compliance risks will only grow in 2025 and beyond.
Data chaos: The unseen cost of market data
Market data isn’t just expensive – it’s complex. The explosion of new market data
products and evolving pricing structures, compliance requirements and business use cases has created a fragmented and unpredictable landscape. Many firms don’t realize how
much they’re losing on data overlaps, unused licenses and unchecked usage, or just how costly accidental non-compliance can be.
The numbers speak for themselves. Many firms miss opportunities to cut market data
costs, avoid unexpected expenses and achieve operational savings of up to 30%. Scale that
across an industry that spent $42bn in 2023, and the inefficiencies are staggering.
How many firms truly understand their market data consumption? We know that TRG Screen clients do – because year-over-year data proves they have the visibility to take control. But for financial institutions that still lack modern management tools and granular data, they’re leaving millions on the table.
A tale of two firms: Who’s thriving and who’s falling behind?
Consider two financial institutions.
Firm A has unified spend, usage and compliance data into a single framework, ensuring complete
visibility over every contract, license and user. AI-driven automation continuously analyses activity in real time, flagging inefficiencies before they escalate. Vendor negotiations are backed by data on both sides, ensuring the firm only pays for what it truly needs.
Compliance risks are also proactively managed. AI ensures real-time data usage aligned with
contract terms, reducing audit surprises and financial penalties. Automation streamlines administrative tasks, allowing market data teams to focus on strategy rather than firefighting.
Firm B is a different story. Market data invoices keep rising or fluctuating, yet no one has a
clear view of why. It takes days, if not weeks, to untangle costs – digging into multiple systems with little visibility into actual usage. Even then, the picture is incomplete. With overlapping
products from different vendors, the firm unknowingly pays multiple times for the same data.
Licenses auto-renew, even for employees who have left or data feeds that are no longer needed.
When an audit flags a contract violation, unexpected fines hit the firm’s bottom line. Vendor
relationships remain one-sided, with no leverage to challenge contracts. The firm is stuck in a
cycle of reactive management, constantly addressing cost overruns after they happen, instead of preventing them.
The difference between these two firms isn’t just how much they’re spending– it’s how well they’re managing every dollar spent.
Bringing order to the chaos: What happens when firms
take control?
Firms that unify spend, usage and compliance, outsource specialized functions, AND apply
AI and automation gain an edge:
- They stop overpaying: AI pinpoints wasted spend, reduces fees and avoids unexpected costs to drive savings of up to 30%.
- They strengthen vendor negotiations: Data-backed analytics change the power balance and shift negotiations from guesswork to strategy.
- They stay ahead of compliance risks: Automated tracking ensures real-time usage aligns with contract terms.
- They move from firefighting to strategy: Instead of chasing cost spikes, firms optimize market data proactively.
- They boost productivity: Streamlined processes allow firms to manage market data faster and more accurately.
- They empower market data functions: Market data teams within firms shift from administrators to business advisors, helping drive better business outcomes.
AI’s real breakthrough: Working alongside experts and
taking data management to the next level
For more than 500 firms, TRG Screen solutions have already transformed market data management, enabling them to drive efficiencies and cost savings at scale. But the next
leap forward is here.
TRG Screen is transforming market data management through the use of AI, predictive analytics and intelligent automation. These technologies deliver unprecedented speed, accuracy and strategic insights that create measurable business advantages. Current client-facing AI developments focus on five key capability areas:
1. Accelerate data ingestion
Process invoices, contracts and policy documents, automating data extraction, standardization
and categorization. This will create a consistent, reliable foundation for cost and compliance management.
2. Automate market data workflows
Streamline end-to-end processes, from invoice reconciliation to entitlement tracking and discrepancy detection. Firms can enforce policies, prevent cost overruns and ensure compliance.
3. Unlock optimization opportunities
Analyse vast amounts of spend and usage data to detect inefficiencies, hidden patterns and cost-saving opportunities, helping firms maximize the value of their market data investments.
4. Enhance compliance
Proactively track real-time data usage against contract terms to automatically identify breaches and mitigate compliance risks reducing exposure to audits, penalties and unforeseen liabilities.
5. Answer critical questions instantly
Generative AI chat tools enable teams to ask natural-language questions and receive instant, data-driven and contextual responses – a huge shortcut to actionable insights and for decision-making.
The future of market data management
TRG Screen is actively developing these AI-powered capabilities with several in the final stages of validation – demonstrating impressive accuracy and processing times. These advancements will soon be embedded in select products, with a 2025 roadmap delivering production-ready tools across a wider range of use cases for clients.
The next era of market data management won’t be defined by manual processes and reactive
cost-cutting, it will be driven by central management solutions that provide proactive, AI-powered capabilities and allow firms to have full visibility and take full control of their market
data ecosystem.
Ready to see what proactive market data cost management could mean for you?
