[ M A R K E T
R E V I E W
|
2 0 1 9
P R E D I C T I O N S ]
Adam Toms, CEO, OpenFin Europe
With MIFID II and Brexit
planning (relatively) under
control, 2019 will see a wide-
ranging step up in resources
focused on innovation. Digital
transformation projects will not
be the domain of just the largest
firms, but accessible to all as
the number of highly specialised
application and solution
providers continue to deliver
next generational products and
services. Platforms that foster
and enable cultures of openness
and collaboration will thrive,
driving optimised workflows,
productivity and differentiated
informational advantage for
end users. Security will be
front and centre on the 2019
agenda in the face of ever-
increasing cyber threats. This
imperative is being formalised
by the UK’s FCA and global
regulators who want to see
firms taking all necessary steps
to mitigate this prevailing risk.
Seth Merrin, founder and CEO, Liquidnet
In 2019, achieving best execution
– currently the primary task of
the buy-side trader – will become
much more efficient through
increased automation and data-
driven processes. This will free
up the trader to focus on alpha
generation and empower buy-side
traders to shift their primary focus
from saving their firms money,
to making their firms money.
As the buy-side trader’s role
continues to evolve and demand
for performance increases,
stand-alone block or algo-based
liquidity solutions will no longer
be enough. An increased adoption
of advanced technologies for
liquidity sourcing and intelligent
automated execution, like
artificial intelligence, will augment
the buy-side trader’s ability to
provide best execution. We’ll
also see an increasing number of
traders leveraging technology to
efficiently mine both traditional
and alternative data sets for
actionable intelligence that can
help generate performance for
their firms.
Eric Heleine, deputy head of buy-side trading desk, Groupama Asset
Management
The evolution of the structure
of the financial markets will be
a new source of complexity for
2019. The liquidity on equities
will be impacted by the regulator,
who’s already trying to adjust
MIFID II side effects, like the
SI regime or periodic auctions.
The revision of RTS11 and the
possible implementation of tick
size regime on all band sizes
can become a real challenge
to find real liquidity. So, while
politicians and regulators want
greater transparency in markets,
the role of asset managers in
the management of European
markets is to be improved. The
fixed income business also
requires a better reading of the
available liquidity and its location.
In a more volatile market the
RFQ should be challenged by the
establishment of new alternative
liquidity pool where the buy-side
will become a new liquidity
provider.
Issue 58 // TheTradeNews.com // 81