Automating the monitoring of personal trade accounts requires the capture of trade data in an electronic format. Data capture is an important topic and one that is not always fully understood. Typically, firms begin data capture by acquiring direct feeds from the major brokerage firms. This can resolve 60-70% of trade capture needs for US accounts. A good start, but significant challenges remain; the 30-40% of US accounts that are not captured as well as the non-US trading activity, typically 80-90%.