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.”

The post Artemis Investment Management outsources equities and derivatives trading to Northern Trust appeared first on The TRADE.

His departure comes in the wake of the new Groupama-Amundi partnership – which he has led for the last two years.

Heleine is not set to join the new offering, and instead will be moving on to embrace a new challenge according to sources familiar with the matter.

Read more: Groupama and Amundi team up to boost trading

Groupama Asset Management and Amundi Intermediation’s strategic partnership, announced in May 2024, saw the firms merge their trading capacities to enhance trading efficiencies.

Speaking at the time, Heleine explained: “With Amundi Intermediation, we share the conviction that execution is changing radically with rapid and global digitalisation. 

“[…] By making the most of advances in AI and data science, Groupama Asset Management and Amundi Intermediation aspire to define new standards of excellence in transaction execution, while strengthening the teams’ ability to respond quickly and precisely to market challenges.” 

Read more: Fireside Friday with… Groupama Asset Management’s Eric Heleine

Heleine had been with Groupama AM for 15 and a half years and has also previously worked in other buy-side roles at firms including BGC Partners and Etoile Gestion.

The post Heleine set to depart Groupama AM appeared first on The TRADE.

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.”

The post BNY goes live with new trading desk in Dublin appeared first on The TRADE.

Castel most recently served as a trader focused on equities (cash and swap), foreign exchange, and listed derivatives.

He will begin his new role as of 1 November, based in Denmark, The TRADE understands. 

Castel was one of The TRADE’s Rising Stars of Trading and Execution in 2023, recognised as a budding buy-side talent in the institutional trading space. 

Over the years the Rising Stars initiative, in collaboration with Instinet, has recognised many up-and-coming buy-side talents, several of whom have gone on to head up some of the largest and most successful desks across the world’s leading asset managers and hedge funds.

Candriam declined to comment when approached by The TRADE.

The post Candriam trader to join Nordea in equities role appeared first on The TRADE.

Speaking to The TRADE, Chris Jackson, global head of equity strategy and head of equities, EMEA, explained: “There’s a number of different pieces that we’re drawing together. We operate in over 50 markets and block trading in equities is our main calling card so to speak. It is a business that we have evolved beyond just block trading, with a set of execution services, including algorithmic trading and high touch.

Balraj Briah

“Clients have been asking us increasingly to take those core values, and the Liquidnet approach, and apply that to helping them simplify the complexity of multi-asset trading so that’s what we’re doing, leveraging our unconflicted model and a technology-driven approach.”

Read more – Building an agile multi-asset business

Balraj Briah has been appointed head of multi-asset services, having most recently served as managing director at BTIG. He has also previously served in sales trading roles at Citi, Nomura, and BNY Mellon. 

“The trading landscape is evolving and so are our members’ needs, that’s why we’re really excited to have Balraj on board. He brings a breadth of experience across multiple asset classes,” Jackson tells The TRADE. 

Alongside Briah, David Cannon joined Liquidnet last month as head of multi-asset execution. He previously spent almost 17 years at Louis Capital Markets, most recently as head of equity trading.

“Dave has a huge amount of experience in the execution space that he has gained over many years on both the buy- and sell-side,” asserts Briah. 

The addition of Briah and Cannon builds on several other new recent hires, including the appointment of multi-asset traders for the desk, with plans also in place for a senior hire in the analytics space – a major focus as part of the multi-asset push, The TRADE understands. 

Briah explained: “Data analytics is becoming more unified and lends itself better to cross-asset trading. This move is really improving traders’ relationships with their portfolio managers, enhancing their ability to act as their ‘eyes and ears’ in the market and overall increasing their trading performance.” 

Across the market the shift towards multi-asset trading has been clear to see, in particular given the advancement of technological capabilities, an increased focus on risk management, and increasing market intricacies. 

Read more – The multi-asset multiverse: Anticipating the trading landscape of the future with Mark Govoni

Speaking to the timeliness of the move, Briah tells The TRADE that a key recent trend he has been observing is the acceleration towards multi asset trading amongst the buy-side.

“I worked for many years at a large asset manager and we had separate dealing desks for each asset class, with each trader then having a very-clearly defined role.[…] This specialism meant there was, in some cases, only one expert in a particular product and, over time, people have started to realise that it isn’t an optimal set-up.

“Traditionally, multi-asset trading desks were more common at hedge funds but larger asset managers are increasingly adopting this model. Where before they didn’t necessarily have the resources to dedicate to different dealers, different desks, over time that has changed, especially as asset classes become more electronic.”

Read more – Fireside Friday with… Liquidnet’s Gareth Exton

Liquidnet’s position as an agency broker is a key factor in how the business conducts itself across asset classes, said Jackson. The business is never competing or has a competing interest with its own trading book and as such has historically placed a high importance on the use of technology to help clients improve trading performance.

As Liquidnet builds out its multi-asset capabilities, the business demonstrably already has an established approach lined up and various pieces of the puzzle in place across the organisation, as well as opportunities for collaboration with the broader group. 

Speaking to what’s front of mind at this stage, Cannon said: “Within multi-asset trading, a key consideration is that each asset class possesses its own unique trading difficulties. We need to bear in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to trading different asset classes. 

“It’s really important when we talk about technology and automation that we also look at the role of the trader. I think what makes technology very powerful is bringing it together with the trader’s knowledge and expertise to create Alpha for the desk. At Liquidnet, we’re really well positioned to do that and it’s a really exciting proposition that we hope to be able to offer to our members.” 

Briah adds that key considerations when it comes to hiring on the execution desk is first and foremost ensuring that everything is of highest quality in order to meet the demands of the complex multi-asset space. 

“When we do something at Liquidnet, we do it right and we do it in collaboration with our members. We live and die by the quality of our execution and providing the best price possible in the market.”

The post Liquidnet to launch multi-asset trading desk appeared first on The TRADE.

Speaking to The TRADE, Rob Kirby, head of EMEA sales and business development at QuantHouse, explains: “Quod are a great partner of ours and have been for a number of years. We work closely with them, and also with other OMS/EMS providers as well. We are data agnostic and those types of partners are absolutely critical for QuantHouse.

“Quod has integrated all of the historical market data now, which gives us and them, the opportunity to onboard more and more clients within that space even more efficiently.”

Specifically, through the strategic partnership, QuantHouse’s low-latency and historical data will be used to train QuodFinancial’s AI/machine learning models to adapt to and anticipate market movements.

The AI-driven trading algorithms will enable trading firms to carry out real-time, highly accurate transaction cost analysis (TCA) at the point of execution. As a result, traders will not need to manually adjust their TCA assumptions or trading strategies in the event of unexpected market events.  

“QuantHouse has got a reputation in the marketplace for low latency, high performance normalised market data which is critical to exchange-type customers. We have MTFs as long-standing customers but we also have a decent proportion of OMS, EMS partners as well. They like using our data because of the reliability and the speed of it,” asserts Kirby.  

Read more – Buy-side set to leverage newly combined real time and historical BMLL and Quanthouse offering

Across the trading ecosystem, market participants are highly cognisant of the importance of avoiding a “garbage in, garbage out” situation when it comes to data and technology, in particular when coupled with the theme of AI. Subsequent algorithms are only as effective as the data which powers them.

Speaking in an announcement on Tuesday, Medan Gabbay, chief revenue officer at Quod Financial asserted the importance of solid technological infrastructure when it comes to data automation: “In financial services, the performance of your technology is defined by the quality and speed of the data that powers your systems. This has never been more true or more important than now, as we go through a transition of data automation and AI/ML.”

As AI gains traction across the industry, there has understandably been some trepidation about what the incorporation of this technology could entail.

Read more – The buy-side on AI: ‘The fear is real, but the rewards are there’

Speaking to this, Kirby highlights that though market participants are cautious, particularly in such a highly regulated industry, the increasing use of AI is an inevitable development.

“Clients are always looking for optimal ways to cut costs and increase the efficiency of what they’re doing. If you look at the way AI and machine learning looks at data, and the huge amounts of data sets which are only becoming larger, AI is a clear answer. There are ways of providing risk mitigation, which will allay some of the fears that are in the marketplace today.

“AI is not just a big buzz word, it’s being deployed in ways which are completely changing the industry. It is bringing in huge cost efficiencies and is allowing some of these traders to be able to focus on exactly what they should be focusing on – the execution part of the strategy. That’s, I think, the most exciting thing.”

The post Quod Financial to use QuantHouse data to refine AI-driven trading platforms appeared first on The TRADE.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management serves both institutions and high net worth individuals worldwide, spanning private equity, private credit, infrastructure and private real estate markets. 

The business operates in more than 41 countries, employing over 70,000 professionals globally.

Read more: Morgan Stanley IM latest Wall Street name to cement presence in China with fully owned China joint venture

Morgan Stanley Investment Management declined to comment when approached by The TRADE.

Perry’s retirement follows several other major retirements from buy-side trading heads in recent months. In May, global head of trading at Janus Henderson, Dan Royal, announced that he was set to step away from his role at the end of this year with Hugh Spencer due to take over the reins.

Also notable was the announcement of Jeremy Ellis’ retirement as head of European equity trading. He had been with T. Rowe Price since 2000, having started his career with defunct stockbroker Scrimgeour-Kemp Gee.

The post Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s London equity trading head retires appeared first on The TRADE.

Most recently, he served as equity and derivatives trader, vice president at SSGA, focused on the EMEA region, having joined the desk in December 2016.

Following his departure Corbyn is set to join Barclays Capital, The TRADE understands.

Prior to his time at SSGA, Corbyn held settlement-related roles at Credit Suisse, Citigroup, and Barclays Capital.

Read more: State Street Global Advisors hires from within for new head of EMEA 

In 2019, Corbyn was one of The TRADE’s Rising Stars, recognised for his well-regarded work on the London trading desk where he specialised in developed European markets, providing coverage to the global portfolio management teams.

The TRADE’s Rising Stars initiative, recognising the budding buy-side talents of the institutional trading space, returns in October 2024, its tenth year. 

State Street Global Advisors declined to comment when approached by The TRADE.

The post State Street Global Advisors equity trader and VP departs appeared first on The TRADE.

Mike du Plessis (left), Darren Smith (right)

Aimed at supporting buy-side traders with their derivatives flow by creating an ecosystem of information all in one place, the analytics suite is being rolled out in three phases.

Already brought to market, phase one includes volume and liquidity information. Traders can access the user face via GUI or API.

“Liquidity or the quality of conditions can change day-to-day and even intraday depending on what’s happening,” says Darren Smith, head of listed derivatives EQS at Liquidnet.

“By consuming our data from the API, you have a relatively sophisticated metric that can power automation and combine market touch liquidity and volume run rates etc.” 

Read more – Liquidnet launches new futures rolls negotiation tool

The rollouts are aimed at supporting the buy-side as TCA becomes more real time and prevalent in the execution decision, as seen in the equites markets. In particular, the suite can be used when selecting what execution method to use, be it on-exchange, request for quote (RFQ) or using an algo.

“The pre trade analytics are a very useful means by which clients can assess the quality of a block price,” the global head of listed derivatives at Liquidnet, Mike du Plessis, tells The TRADE.   

“Having submitted an RFQ, they can choose not to trade on block and actually aggress the order book directly if that seems to be a better option at the point of trade. You then start think about TCA a little bit differently. It’s not so much that post-trade piece but more of a point of trade process as well.” 

Phase two

Phase two set to be rolled out in the coming weeks will be focused on predicted volume curves and sweep prices, Smith explains.

“One of the most frequent questions we get asked by traders with large orders is “how long is it going to take me to do X thousand lots in Y obscure product,” he says.  

“We were able to calculate where projected liquidity is going throughout the day as it evolves and then present that relatively scientifically. There’s an advantage in putting all that information in one place. It’s very difficult for traders now to get all that information quickly from the number of screens they would have to go to. There are different calculations you would have to do, collate it all and put in one place and by that time the markets moved.” 

Phase three is set to cover hidden liquidity, something that the pair confirm has been at the forefront of their minds for the last few months.

“There can be far more liquidity available than there seems on screen. It is really difficult to measure because by its very nature it’s hidden so we’re working through some ideas of how you proxy for it,” says Smith.

“For example, touch liquidity may look awful but if you aggress the market you get size done. In the immediate aftermath of SVB last spring, touch liquidity just disappeared. There was nothing there but as soon as you were participating in the market you were getting filled and able to get size done.” 

High frequency

The roll outs fit into a much wider ongoing story taking place in the markets. Given the reduced balance sheet offered by banks paired with the proliferation of higher frequency and electronic firms, Smith and du Plessis confirm that the buy-side need better tools to help them to compete and achieve their outcomes.

By offering asset managers and other non-high frequency firms enhanced data capabilities in one place, it allows them to execute in the market more freely without being run over.

Exchanges generally notify firms who have a resting order that has been filled, first. Given the high frequency industry’s preference to face algos that slice orders up into smaller chunks, it’s usually these firms that find out first when an order has been filled. While these may only be small lots, that’s valuable information.

“If you are a super large high frequency trading hedge fund or CTA etc you’ve certainly got access to all this market data but if you are even a relatively large asset manager you don’t necessarily have the resources to build a suite of analytics like that,” says Smith. 

Elsewhere, speaking to The TRADE, du Plessis adds: “It’s really important context to think about the fact that the pendulum has swung so far from the providers of brute force balance sheet liquidity i.e. banks in the 90s and early 2000s towards participants who, by design, use limited balance sheet but with a much higher velocity of hedging. It’s interesting that many of those faster houses lobby in such a way as to promote top-of-book trading (a space that they continuously occupy) in order to support the lower balance sheet model.

“End users necessarily slice up orders in an attempt to minimise market impact – invariably that process comes at a cost to the liquidity seeker of information leakage over time. The low-balance sheet participant is both informed and able to hedge the small pieces of business on a continuous basis rather than deal with the big chunk at the outset. Again, we are trying to help the buy-side confound that predictability and switch seamlessly between execution “modes” which will help ensure they are paying the right amount of spread in a given liquidity state.”

The post Liquidnet to imminently roll out derivatives predicted volume curve and sweep price analytics appeared first on The TRADE.

The investment firm joins a growing list of sell-side firms using the service including the likes of Citi, Northern Trust, Standard Chartered, along with Deutsche Bank most recently joining back in March. 

Stephen Roche

Saphyre’s automated intelligence streamlines the onboarding and maintenance processes for custody, broker trading, and buy-side accounts, while synchronising associated reference data in real-time. This ensures a real-time golden source of data accessible to all external parties.

Additionally, Saphyre’s solution addresses issues related to failed trades downstream and facilitates real-time collaboration, crucial for meeting upcoming T+1 commitments. 

Stephen Roche, president & co-founder of Saphyre, said: “We’re ecstatic to have ABRDN, a leading financial investment management firm join our endeavor. By deploying our technology ABRDN will maintain data integrity through the lifecycle of a fund. Providing them with speed in the pre-trade thru post-trade processes not for just their firm, but also with their broker and custodial counterparts.” 

Read more: The TRADE announces Leaders in Trading 2023 award winners

The startup’s technology digitises pre-trade data and activities across multiple counterparties, maintaining a memory of data and documents. This eliminates the need for clients to search or resubmit information and expedites flow in a digitally structured manner, accessible and understandable by any permissioned counterparty in the finance industry. 

In speeding up the onboarding process, Saphyre claims it eliminates 70%-75% of redundant or inefficient post-trade activities.    

The post ABRDN becomes latest to join Saphyre’s onboarding platform appeared first on The TRADE.