Jesse Forster

When it comes to the industry’s opinion on “new innovative trading venues”, the latest Coalition Greenwich report found that an overwhelming 91% of both US low-touch brokers and their buy-side clients have between “a little” and “a lot” of interest in the venues. 

This huge number is understandable given the significant amount of all US equity volume being executed on ATSs. With institutional trading contributing around 33% of overall equity market volumes, the conclusion is that half of all liquidity needs are currently being fulfilled on ATSs.

Speaking to the rise of ATSs – thanks in large part to their established focus on execution quality above all else – one electronic trading head based in the US told Coalition Greenwich: “They solved for performance, now they just need to solve for liquidity”.

Read more: Data arms race heats up as venues and vendors eye buy-side business through new initiatives 

Delving deeper into the data, 38% and 53% of US low-touch brokers showed “a lot” and “a little” interest respectively, compared to 28% and 63% respectively on the buy-side client side.

Speaking to the motivators, one surveyed sell-side head asserted: “The buy side wants to see us trading there. They expect us to be experimenting with them with different types of orders under different conditions in different times of the day.”

This is arguably a straightforward supply and demand situation. With market sentiment shifting, many across the market are crediting the new generation of traders with driving change thanks to their new age thinking and openness to new ideas and innovations.

Trading venues are continually having to adapt as liquidity gets more and more fragmented – a key challenge when it comes to ATSs. However, it is apparent that key market participants on both the buy- and sell-side are highly cognisant of the importance of not falling behind the curve of change. 

As the landscape develops at an ever-faster pace, it is only logical that so too will the means by which trading is executed.

Jesse Forster, head of equity market structure and technology at Coalition Greenwich, explained: “ATSs are incubators in a market structure laboratory, with less stringent rule sets than exchanges. The ATSs gaining traction today have sparked a hunger for further innovation, paving the way for the next generation of groundbreaking trading venues to emerge.”

Coalition Greenwich’s ‘the innovators: how and why alternative trading systems succeed’ study was based on feedback from Q3 2024 wherein interviews were conducted with equity market professionals in the US working at ATSs, exchanges, asset managers, broker-dealers, fintech providers, and industry associations.

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The active investment house with $33 billion offers a range of funds that invest in the UK, Europe, the US and around the world, and selected Northern Trust for a range of asset services earlier this year.

Speaking to The TRADE, Sheenagh Dougall, chief operating officer, Artemis, said: “What ultimately informed the decision was what this could do for our clients and how it could enhance their returns.

“Our centralised dealing desk has done a fantastic job for our business and for our clients, but I think we recognise some of the limitations of having a dealing desk in-house in a firm of Artemis’s size where we can’t do that follow the sun method. We are based in the UK, but we have funds that operate in the US and in emerging market space and, potentially, could we do better in those areas and have better coverage?”

Northern Trust will support all trading activity for Artemis’ equity funds under management and all related over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives. The appointment follows a review by Artemis of its operating model intended to help align its operational structure with its strategic growth plans.

Four members of Artemis’ dealing team will move to Northern Trust.

Mark Murray, senior partner at Artemis, said: “Outsourcing our equity and derivatives trading to Northern Trust ensures our continued access to global markets, whilst delivering high-quality liquidity and operational scale, further expanding the partnership and strong cultural fit between our organisations.

“We are confident this extension of service delivers the capabilities and operational resilience we require – supporting our focus on providing outstanding returns and service for our investors, as well as our ambitious plans for the continued growth of our business.”

Northern Trust is on an unprecedented run of securing outsourced trading mandates over the past 12 months, signing deals with True Potential, Waverton Investment Management, 2Xideas and Nedgroup. A major mandate was also secured with Rathbones in April 2023.

“We are excited to be partnering further with Artemis to support their end-to-end requirements for global equities and derivatives trading,” said Glenn Poulter, global head of brokerage at Northern Trust.

“The mandate supports Artemis’ focus on growth and complements our existing relationship: driving efficiencies through our global technology architecture, straight-through-processing and an integrated service proposition – from execution to custody – that now supports the complete lifecycle of its investments.”

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The desk is live and fully operational and specifically aimed at facilitating more efficient trading for EU-based clients across both fixed income and equity markets globally, focusing on streamlining the firm’s offering across different regional markets. 

Adam Vos

Adam Vos, global head of markets at BNY, explained: “Expanding into the EU is a direct response to the growing demand from our EU-based clients for execution services. The addition of our new team in Ireland enhances our ability to offer seamless and efficient services.

“We’re committed to strengthening our international offering of execution services and meeting the needs of our clients in the EU and beyond.”

The development enhances BNY’s operational ecosystem execution services offerings in Europe. Solutions include comprehensive execution to custody for BNY’s Markets, Pershing and Asset Servicing clients.

Bianca Gould, head of equities and fixed income EMEA, markets, at BNY is set to lead the execution services offering across the region. 

Read more: BNY Mellon names new head of fixed income and equities EMEA and head of US fixed income

Paul Kilcullen, country head of Ireland at BNY, explained: “Clients can execute equities and fixed income with enhanced support across time zones by BNY’s global team. This is a key milestone in our international growth strategy, which will have a positive impact on Ireland’s growing role as a key financial hub in Europe.”

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The firm has also added Virtu Financial as an executing broker for client flows negotiated on Appital’s BookBuilder platform, offering buy-side participants improved options for executing large orders. 

Virtu Financial offers execution, liquidity sourcing, analytics, and workflow technology for institutional clients, including POSIT MTF, its dark multilateral trading facility in Europe and the UK. 

This latest development follows the integration of Virtu Financial’s Triton Valor EMS with Appital’s BookBuilder platform in April last year.

“Our collaboration with Virtu Financial was driven by client demand and provides asset managers with price discovery and execution capabilities in outsized equity positions, within a seamless workflow,” said Brian Guckian, chief business development officer at Appital.

The collaborations with Virtu Financial’s POSIT MTF and its execution services complement existing integrations with Turquoise MTF and executing brokers Instinet and Bernstein, the firm said in a statement.

“We aim to help institutional clients discover quality liquidity while maintaining anonymity and minimising market impact,” said Rob Boardman, chief executive at Virtu Execution Service, EMEA.

“We do this by leveraging cutting-edge technology to deliver liquidity to the global markets and innovative, transparent trading solutions to our clients.”

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Didier Gaffinel

Through the partnership, Kepler Cheuvreux has established a local presence in the UAE through the opening of a new office in the Dubai International Financial Centre and will initially cover equity research and distribution in the Gulf region including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. 

The move follows the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) granting Kepler Cheuvreux has been a license to operate as an authorised firm and provide equity research and distribution on 26 July this year. 

Didier Gaffinel, deputy general manager and head of global coverage and investment banking at Crédit Agricole CIB, said: “[The] partnership with Kepler Cheuvreux has proven to be highly successful in Europe with a number of flagship transactions. The extension allows us to further strengthen our client offering in the MENA region.

“We are fully committed to the success of this new initiative and are strongly convinced of the value-add we bring to MENA ECM issuers through our platform.”

Crédit Agricole CIB already has an established presence in MENA, with offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and through this partnership with Kepler is set to further strengthen its offering in the region through the addition of equity capital markets activities. 

Read more: Kepler Cheuvreux extends equity research deal with CIBC

“The extension of our ECM partnership with Crédit Agricole CIB allows us to respond to the strong interest from institutional investors in the MENA region where ECM activity is booming. This new step in the history of Kepler Cheuvreux demonstrates the efficiency of our model and strengthens the group’s multi-local position,” asserted Laurent Quirin, chair of the supervisory board of Kepler Cheuvreux.

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In the role, Hayes will report to Sharon Kim, executive managing director and head of Europe. 

“Carl’s leadership will help us further strengthen our multi-asset capabilities and integrate our market insights and quality execution across asset classes. These strengths have earned us a strong reputation in the financial services industry, and Carl and his team’s expertise will be key in driving our growth in these areas,” said Kim.

Alongside the established team, he will be focused on strengthening TDS’ presence in the European equity markets as well as helping to solidify its multi-asset capabilities across Europe.

Hayes has previously held roles at Deutsche Bank and HSBC Securities.

Read more: TD completes $1.3 billion Cowen acquisition to advance US investment banking growth strategy

Speaking to his appointment, Hayes said: “It is a privilege to lead the European cash equities team. With the current dynamics in the European markets, I look forward to leveraging our outstanding expertise in high touch, low touch, electronic and program trading, as well as research sales, to enhance our market position and provide exceptional value to our clients.”

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Tom Lazenga, general manager, TNS Financial Markets

The move comes as part of TNS’ commitment to comprehensive coverage of the US listed options marketplace.

TNS will offer users market data and order routing access in an ultra-low-latency trading environment.

The addition of MIAX Sapphire will enable traders using TNS to gain access to all 18 US equity options exchanges, providing benefits including: enhanced market data services, resilient connectivity and streamlined operations.

Real-time market data from MIAX Sapphire and all other connected exchanges will offer traders ultra-high speed access to full depth of book, raw market data feeds for better informed decision making.

“We’re proud to extend access for those seeking to trade on MIAX Sapphire from day one,” said Tom Lazenga, general manager, TNS Financial Markets.

“TNS’ managed service approach streamlines everything from connectivity to market data support, allowing institutional traders to focus on their core activities.”

MIAX Sapphire is set to become MIAX’s fourth national securities exchange for US multi-listed options and will operate both an electronic exchange and physical trading floor which will be located in Miami, Florida.

Read more: SEC greenlights MIAX’s August launch of new taker-maker US options venue

“The launch of the MIAX Sapphire electronic exchange will be followed by the opening of a state-of-the-art physical trading floor in Miami in 2025 which will allow our market participants to access 100% of the multi-listed options market,” said Matthew Rotella, executive vice president and chief technology officer of MIAX.

“We are pleased TNS is offering connectivity to MIAX Sapphire and TNS now provides access to all of our options and equities exchanges through its comprehensive and reliable network.”

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Dolcezza joins Stifel from Hargreaves Lansdown where he spent the last seven years, most recently serving as a market dealer – a position he held for three and a half years.

Prior to that, Dolcezza served as an equity dealer for nearly two years.

Elsewhere in his tenure at Hargreaves Lansdown, he served as an investment helpdesk consultant and a client support agent.

Read more: Stifel and Marex unveil outsourced trading partnership under new broker referral scheme

Dolcezza announced his appointment in a social media post, asserting: “I’m delighted to announce I have joined Stifel Europe as part of their Equity Market Making team. I’m really looking forward to learning from and working with the team.

“I’ve [thoroughly] enjoyed my time at HL, where I’ve worked with some great colleagues and had the honour of learning from some great people.”

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The firm called the launch “an important milestone” for its business as it will enable greater penetration in the fast-growing Middle Eastern markets.

William Ashworth and Yasmine Rassem have been selected to build out the franchise from Bernstein’s Hong Kong and London offices, respectively. Ashworth has been appointed managing director, global execution sales and Rassem has been appointed director, global research sales.

Bernstein currently covers MENA listed equities in the energy, financials and logistics sectors. The firm confirmed that it intends to expand this coverage for the benefit of corporate and investor clients.

The new office joins Societe Generale’s existing franchise that has been operating in the Middle East region since 1997.

Read more – The new kid on the block – a closer look at ‘Bernstein’

The news follows the recent collaboration between AllianceBernstein and Societe Generale which saw the launch of a new joint venture in April focusing on global cash equities and equity research.

Named Bernstein, the joint venture was originally announced in November 2022.

Bernstein provides institutional investors, corporates and financial institutions with investment insights into North America, European and Asia Pacific equity markets, alongside liquidity access and global trading technology.

The joint venture enables Societe Generale to offer its clients a suite of global services across the equities value-chain, ranging from equity and macro research to agency execution, equity derivatives, prime brokerage and equity capital markets offerings.

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The partnership will enable Kepler Cheuvreux to offer broader coverage of the S&P 500, which aims to meet increasing client demand.

“Argus Research’s proposition allows us to significantly enhance our US equity research offering, providing our clients with unparalleled access to top performance and independent analysis,” said Laurent Quirin, chair of the supervisory board at Kepler Cheuvreux.

With coverage of over 500 stocks, Argus Research claims to provides research on 90% of the S&P 500 market capitalisation.

Argus Research consists of a team of 20 analysts which deliver research and insightful analysis spanning across stock, sector and macroeconomic research.

“Argus Research is excited to partner with Kepler Cheuvreux to expand our reach into Continental Europe. I have come to realise that our firms have much in common, including long-time industry leadership and a clear focus on and alignment with the interests of our investor clients,” said John Eade, president and chief executive at Argus Research.

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