The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 9 plus 2 letter word TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
T
A
K
E
A
D
V
A
N
T
A
G
E
O
F
More clues leading to the result TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "exploit" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case exploit = take advantage of.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.