Shannon Koenig, Executive Director, Head of ITS Analytics at Instinet, won the Excellence in Analytics Award at Markets Media Group’s 2023 Women in Finance (U.S.) Awards.
What was your reaction to winning the award?
Wow! I’ve been in the industry for 14 years, and being honored with this award made me reflect on how far I’ve come. I owe so much of my success to many mentors along the way. (You know who you are! Thank you.) While I’m certainly not at the pinnacle of my career yet – this award does mean it’s time for me to begin paying it forward by supporting other deserving, talented women and men.
What’s something you’re really proud of and why?
I’m so proud of the Instinet Analytics team and our growth in recent years. Our analytics products power the Instinet brokerage business, and also support external clients working on multi-broker problems. As a team, we’ve excelled in building new tools and skillsets to tackle items from portfolio construction to liquidity sourcing metrics, and we are excited about what we can introduce next.
What are the current analytics trends in the industry?
I’d say there are three main trends right now:
Accessibility: Everyone is demanding more control and visibility over the analytics process. Quarterly TCA pdfs from a consultant just aren’t cutting it anymore. Clients also want hands-on access to dive into the details and add new metrics, verify benchmarks, and evaluate outliers. So, we are providing more users with interactive tools and APIs so that they can engage more closely with their data.
Real-time metrics: I’m having lots of client conversations on the real-time metrics available to traders in our Newport EMS. We’ve also recently rolled out a new TradeSpex API with access to real-time signals, volume predictions, cost estimates and more. I’m looking forward to collaborating further on these projects.
Automation: Everyone is trying to do more with less these days, and that means automation tools continue growing. We’re making workflows faster, we’re automating daily TCA reports, and of course, I can’t neglect to mention broker wheels. Today’s wheels tend to be more tactical than they were in the early years with clear, explicit goals; whether measuring broker selection, algorithm parameter changes, or workflow changes. Users are more comfortable with the experimentation framework and in the conclusions to be gleaned.
What have been the main drivers of your success?
My co-workers and clients like to tease me about my “nerdy” tendencies, but I wear that badge proudly. I’m not a Star Wars nerd, but I will happily spend hours learning how something works and I “read” 3 books a week (if you count audiobooks on speed 1.75x).
All jokes aside though, I think I thrive because I enjoy learning. I’ve amassed a wealth of knowledge working in this small trading and investment analytics niche, and I get to apply it at work every day. I love sitting down with my clients and co-workers and collaborating on a fun tactical problem or question. I think most of us in this industry have that intellectual curiosity, and I’ve been lucky enough to be in a role where I can exercise it every day.
In the end, it’s still a job, and there are parts I’d cut out, like chasing for responses or expense reports, but I’m grateful that I found my way to this role and it’s ever-changing challenges.
