Today we announce our 2025 Model Awards for buy-side and sell-side initiatives and publish a case study and highlight or interview video for each of the winners.
The winning initiatives highlight various success factors such as leveraging AI in driving growth and staying competitive in capital markets and implementing governance to manage customization when enabling full-scale digital transformation across the trading lifecycle. From enhanced decision-making and improved client satisfaction to streamlined operations and complete straight-through processing (STP), these firms are setting the standard for modern financial innovation.
Our Model Award program celebrates financial institutions for their forward-thinking and innovative use of technology in areas helping to accelerate success in capital markets.
Congratulations to Nissay Asset Management and Emirates NBD Celent’s 2025 Capital Markets Model Awards!
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Buy-side Winner: Nissay Asset Management, NAM-GPT Platform and ESG Tool
Category: Digital Transformation and GenAI Enablement
Synopsis: Nissay Asset Management's Enterprise-wide Generative AI Platform (NAM-GPT) is a strategic initiative aimed at promoting early adoption of AI on a large scale. By quickly engaging with senior executives, department representatives, and technology development partners, Nissay AM has achieved several key milestones essential for the successful implementation of Generative AI capabilities aimed at enhancing efficiency and fostering AI adoption across all departments within the organization. Nissay Asset Management has expanded AI engagement, employee morale and ‘AI activation’ by providing access to cutting-edge Gen AI tools for all staff, with Gen AI utilization rates increasing from ~30% to >70%. The initiative includes the introduction of the ESG Interview Assist tool, designed to aid in the collection and synthesis of information related to sustainability research and ESG initiatives.
Check out the Buy-Side Case Study & Video: Nissay Asset Management
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Sell-side Winner: Emirates NBD, Global Markets and Treasury System Transformation
Category: Front-to-Back Office Transformation
Synopsis: Emirates NBD has upgraded and digitally transformed the platform supporting its Global Markets and Treasury divisions, consolidating onto a single-instance multi-entry system operation supporting multiple units of the bank, across front-to-back operations. The initiative impacts various value chain areas including front office, risk management, and product development and contributes to the bank’s support for ESG. This has been a long journey for the bank, with the aim of building a modern platform that can support increased business optionality and reduced time to market (TTM), straight-through processing (STP) across both upstream and downstream systems, and robust risk controls. This initiative successfully demonstrated innovation in its approach to digital transformation by identifying and overcoming common barriers to change and drivers for fragmentation. The bank was able to immediately leverage the new platform to support the creation of a new product in an area of focus for the business - sustainability.
Check out the Sell-side Case Study & Video: Emirates NBD
Learn more about these initiatives by checking out Innovation & Insight Day 2025, available to anyone registered. Each winning initiative is described in detail in a case study report available to Celent research clients.
By the way, it’s not too early to begin thinking about next year’s Model Buy Side and Sell Side awards for 2026! Nominations open in October 2025.
