What are the key themes you’ve seen in the equity markets over the past year, and how are the twin challenges of inflation and interest rates impacting your job today?
We’ve seen liquidity reduced when trading outside of auctions – in some cases there is more liquidity in the close than during the trading day – and the occasional volume spike. Dark liquidity is increasingly harder to find. We’ve also seen continued growth of ETF volumes.
Geo-political uncertainty remains elevated in Europe, specifically with reference to the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
Interest rates have had a major impact on funding costs (irregular settlement cycles, overnight funding rates) and we’ve seen a compression of commissions – increase in algorithm usage.
We’ve also observed a reduction of sell-side experience, and we continue to see ESG on the rise.
What are the tech innovations you’re seeing in the market right now that are making your job easier?
Algo innovation continues to improve our ability to source liquidity and performance. We’re also using a digital ECM information tool – Primary Portal.
What priorities are on your radar for 2023?
Ensuring we have the best OMS/EMS solution to match our business. Venue analytics – which venues are we getting the ‘best’ liquidity from. And finally brokers – in terms of evaluating which brokers are providing us with the tools we require.