As trading desks face mounting pressure from market volatility and rising volumes, investment managers are turning to automated trading to scale operations efficiently. By automating routine trades, firms can reduce risk, enhance execution, and free up traders to focus on high value strategies, powered by advanced platforms like SS&C RealTick, writes Jai Vaidya, lead product manager, SS&C RealTick.

Outsourced trading desks may look similar on the surface, but the wiring underneath tells a different story. For buy-side firms, understanding how a desk is built – and who it’s built for – is key to making the right choice. Here’s what to look for.

John Courtney, Product Development Engineer, and Micheal McGuirk, Senior Manager, Product Development Engineering at AMD, delve into the evolution of ultra-low latency solutions for high-frequency trading (HFT) in recent years, how the landscape can further develop through open APIs and interoperability, and the competitive edge that Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) accelerators can provide.

After three months in the market, Deutsche Börse’s Maximilian Trossbach and Lukas Neumann share first insights into their dark pool – Xetra Midpoint – from the technical and functional design, to facts and figures that are not in the public market data.

While investment in the Japanese equity market increases, further development of its listed equity derivatives market will foster a more efficient and fair market environment, writes the Osaka Exchange.

Alex Dalley, Cboe’s head of European cash equities, considers five trends he expects to dominate European market structure in 2025.

The TRADE sits down with TD Securities’ Carl Hayes, head of European cash equities, and James Baugh, managing director and head of European market structure, to discuss the integration of TD Execution Services Limited and Cowen Execution Services Limited, what they’re prioritising in 2025, key milestones, and what’s next for the firm.

The TRADE sits down with BestX to unpack their successful year, including innovations such as BestX for real-time execution analytics, Custodial Peer Pool for enhanced FX transparency, and the new fixed income and equity analytics, all driving better execution and market insights.

The TRADE sits down with JonesTrading to explore why outsourced trading is more than just an execution counterparty, highlighting its practical advantages, including: economies of scale, cost efficiency, transparency, growing investor adoption, and access to enhanced services.

Casey McElligott, head of US execution at Redburn Atlantic, speaks to The TRADE about the firm’s meteoric growth in 2024 and the growing importance of agency brokers.