January 14, 2014 - The next 12 months will see financial firms increase their investment in technology to drive business growth and manage the market challenges that 2014 will throw at them.

That is according to a study conducted by IPC System Inc, which found that traders and IT decision makers want to grow their business in the coming year.

The company's A Look Ahead to Industry Technology Trends in 2014 report found regulatory pressures for financial institutions in 2013 saw the focus move away from technology investment.

However, this is set to change in the coming months, with 34 per cent of respondents saying they want to develop a competitive advantage by investing in new technologies.

Bart Bartolozzi, senior product marketing manager at IPC Systems, said: "Market data has been delivered as a managed service for some time now, and financial firms have realized the additional value-add that managed services can deliver when integrating this with their current financial technology."