Monday, March 17, 2025

EDX Appoints Jamil Nazarali Executive Chair; Tony Acuña-Rohter Named CEO

EDX appoints Jamil Nazarali Executive Chair, Tony Acuña-Rohter to serve as CEO

EDX Markets Holding Co., Inc. (“EDX”), a leading digital asset technology firm that combines an institution-only trading venue with a central clearinghouse, today announced that current CEO Jamil Nazarali has been appointed Executive Chair of the EDX Board and Tony Acuña-Rohter has been named CEO.

Acuña-Rohter previously served as EDX’s Chief Technology Officer, leading technology and information security operations since joining in 2022. Acuña-Rohter also leads EDX Clearing, the firm’s central clearinghouse company. Prior to EDX, Acuña-Rohter was CTO of ErisX, part of Cboe Digital.

“I am honored to lead EDX as we approach a new era in digital asset trading,” said Tony Acuña-Rohter, CEO, EDX Markets. “EDX brought a new and more efficient trading structure to digital asset markets through our central clearinghouse and technology. We have reached the point where volumes are attracting ever more clients and activity. I am excited to continue working with Jamil and the world-class EDX team to drive our next phase of growth and development, and further strengthen our position as the primary venue for institutional digital asset trading and clearing.”

As Executive Chair, Nazarali will work closely with EDX’s board of directors and executive management team to provide guidance and strategic direction to support the Company’s continued growth and performance.

“I am proud to have led EDX through its initial start-up phase and to have built such a strong team of leaders and operators across the firm,” said Jamil Nazarali, Executive Chair, EDX. “EDX promptly reached significant volumes and has seen a growing client base and strong institutional and retail flows since launch. Now is the right time to transition operational responsibilities to a new generation of leaders. Tony has been an excellent partner since the day he joined and I have the utmost confidence in his abilities to continue our momentum and capitalize on significant new market opportunities for which EDX is uniquely positioned.”

“Jamil’s leadership and vision have been fundamental in establishing EDX as the digital assets trading venue of choice for the world’s leading financial institutions,” said Peng Zhao, Board Chair, EDX Markets. “On behalf of the Board and our investors, we thank Jamil for his tremendous efforts and success as CEO, and look forward to continue benefiting from his insights as he assumes the Executive Chair role. We are confident that Tony’s strong technology background and proven track record building, operating and scaling cutting-edge platforms makes him the right person to lead EDX at this pivotal time for digital assets.”

About EDX

EDX is a digital asset technology firm that combines an institution-only trading venue with a central clearinghouse. EDX Markets, our flagship marketplace, is designed to emulate the world’s most sophisticated exchanges, with deep liquidity, firm prices and low trading costs. Non-custodial and non-conflicted, EDX has structured its business to minimize risk for its members while providing a diverse array of operational and capital efficiencies. Backed by some of the world’s leading trading and venture capital firms, EDX is actively developing new features and expanding its geographic presence to deliver trusted, liquid and efficient crypto trading experiences for all institutions. To learn more, visit edxmarkets.com.

Disclaimer: EDX Markets products are available only to institutions in the U.S. and certain other jurisdictions. This communication is directed solely at investment professionals with experience in matters relating to investments. Any investment activity to which it relates, including services or products described, is available only to such persons. Persons who do not have such professional experience may not rely on it.

ON THE MOVE: DTCC Announces Organizational Changes; Lance Vegna Joins Northern Trust

Sharon Biran

Sharon Biran, Managing Director, Chief Client Officer, will assume oversight of DTCC Data Services and maintain responsibility for growing DTCC Consulting Services. Biran will also continue to lead DTCC’s Sales, Relationship Management, Marketing & Communications and Partners functions. In addition, DTCC has announced that Michele Hillery, Managing Director, will lead Global Trade Repository and Trade Information Warehouse, and Val Wotton, Managing Director, will assume expanded responsibility for NSCC Equity Clearing and DTC Settlement while continuing in his role as head of ITP.

Lance Vegna

Lance Vegna has joined Northern Trust as Head of Portfolio Solutions, North America, reporting to Craig Blackburn, global head of portfolio solutions in banking and markets. Vegna has over three decades of experience in the global capital markets space, including 20 years working with US asset owners in the transition management segment. He joins Northern Trust from Cantor Fitzgerald where he served as Managing Director for over five years. He previously held roles at Macquarie Group and Credit Suisse. 

Sargent McGowan

Brown Advisory, an independent investment management and strategic advisory firm, has hired Sargent McGowan, as a partner and chief investment officer (CIO) for Endowments and Foundations. McGowan has over 25 years of experience across global public and private equity, asset allocation and portfolio and risk management. He previously served as a managing director and senior team member responsible for investing and managing the University of Virginia’s $14 billion endowment. He spent over a decade at University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO).

Nasdaq Private Market (NPM), a provider of secondary liquidity solutions to private companies, employees, and investors, has promoted Rotem David, Parul Dubey, Sharif Khaleel, and Chris Setaro to new roles on its Executive Leadership Team. David has spent more than 10 years building out NPM’s portfolio of products which offers liquidity and data across various transaction and client types. Prior to NPM, he held lead engineering roles at SecondMarket and Nasdaq. Dubey was previously General Manager of the Capital Markets division, where she helped build the business from inception. Prior to NPM, Khaleel was a Managing Director at Zanbato, where he specialized in executing institutionally sized blocks of private securities. Setaro was previously Global Chief Compliance Officer of SharesPost, and Chief Compliance Officer for its broker-dealer subsidiary SharesPost Financial Corporation.

Lazard has announced that Dan Schulman, Board Member, has been appointed Lead Independent Director to succeed Richard D. Parsons, who remains on the Board, and that Peter R. Orszag, Lazard CEO and Board Member, has been appointed Chairman of the Board, effective January 1, 2025. Kenneth M. Jacobs, Executive Chairman and Board Member, will become Senior Chairman of the Firm and Senior Advisor to the Board, and relinquish his board seat effective December 31, 2024. In his role as Senior Chairman.

remialab has appointed Diane Lansard as Head of Marketing. Based in London. She will lead the marketing strategy of an independent platform dedicated to quantitative strategies. Before joining PremiaLab, Lansard served a wide range of institutional clients in buy-and sell-side leadership roles at BNP Paribas, AXA, Bloomberg, and M&G Investments.

If you have a new job or promotion to report, let me know at alyudvig@marketsmedia.com

Largest Asset Owners Hold Record $26.3 Trillion

  • The world’s largest 100 asset owners now hold a record $26.3 trillion in total assets
  • 12.3% rise year-on-year represents a return to growth after previous year’s 8.7% drop
  • Sovereign Wealth Funds approach two-fifths of assets of top 100 asset owners

Assets of the top 100 asset owners globally have returned to growth in 2023 after a fall of 8.7% in 2022, according to new research by the Thinking Ahead Institute.

As a result of a marked 12.3% year-on-year increase from 2022, recovering the losses from the previous year, the world’s largest 100 asset owners (the ‘AO100’) now hold a record US$26.3 trillion.

The full Asset Owner 100 study also reveals the evolving split between different types of asset owner. Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) remain a dominant force among other types of asset owners, now managing 38.9% of the assets among the AO100, or nearly two-fifths. In comparison, pension funds, while still forming the largest assets under management by fund type (51.2%), saw the smallest growth rate, with assets held rising by 8.9% from the previous year.

Pension funds have represented a declining proportion of the AO100 in North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) since 2017, falling in favour of Outsourced CIOs and SWFs’ accelerated growth. Across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) the pattern is more pronounced as SWFs now form 70% of total assets in the region. In comparison, SWFs manage 43% of assets in APAC, and 2% in North America.

The Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan remains the largest single asset owner in the world, with an AUM of US$1.59 trillion alone. The top three also includes the two largest sovereign wealth funds. Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management in second place with AUM of US$1.55 trillion while China Investment Corporation is now third globally with US$1.24 trillion.

EMEA is the largest region in the AO100 study, accounting for 34.3% of total AUM, closely followed by Asia-Pacific with 33.0% of total AUM. North America represents 32.7% of total AUM.

Jessica Gao, director at the Thinking Ahead Institute, comments: “Asset owners globally are navigating a series of waves and occasional storms – from market volatility and geopolitics to technology and structural changes in societies and economies.

“Macro trends matter. Over the last 12 months, the global investment macro environment has been marked by volatility and mixed performance across asset classes. Interest rates reached significant highs in 2023. The first half of 2024 brought some stabilisation in global markets, as base rates remained relatively flat. After a sustained period of elevated rates aimed at controlling inflation, central banks began to implement gradual rate cuts in the latter half of 2024, marking the first reductions in years. However, market volatility remains high with uncertainty due to geopolitical events and several major elections.

“Meanwhile, the rise of political influence amid the increase in geopolitical risks, major elections, and use of monetary policy to tackle inflation has necessitated asset owners to take a more sophisticated approach in managing the intersections between financial return and regulatory compliance. During this period of volatility, leading asset owners strived to balance political influence and achieve positive sustainability impacts, while operating in macroeconomic environments of high uncertainty.

“Technology and more fundamental change – including to the global climate – are accelerating factors too. Traditional risk management relying heavily on historical data and linear models struggles to keep up with today’s complex, interconnected risks. A new approach will be required to understand and manage risks that arise from complex, systemic sources with limited historical precedent.”

Source: Thinking Ahead Institute

The Three Cs to Optimize Your Electronic Trading Stack: Co-location, Cost, and Currency

By James Lupton, CTO, Blackcore Technologies

When it comes to optimizing your tech stack for electronic trading – or what you might call a “trading stack” — your first thought likely goes to your servers where the bulk of the algorithmic trading will happen. Maybe you invest in ultra-fast, reliable overclocked servers that allow you to run those algorithms faster while also dealing with the increased power consumption and head produced by this process.

However, the servers are only one part of a much larger technology stack when it comes to electronic trading, so what else do clients typically look at to maximize their trading potential?

The core components of a latency-optimized trading stack

When looking at the overall “trading stack,” you must think about the typical use-case and goals that accompany most electronic trading strategies. It’s easy to fall into the trap of imagining a single strategy running on a few servers in a single rack in a single data center, close to some exchange, tracking a single popular stock ticker. The reality, however, is often many-multiple server systems, running in multiple data centers, spanning across multiple geographical locations – all needing to work in harmony within incredibly slim time margins. When you think on this kind of scale, it is clear that many types of technology are involved to monitor, track, react, transmit, receive, and process data across these locations, within milliseconds or even nanoseconds, to be successful.

Location

Location, “proximity to” or “distance from,” is one of the biggest considerations for electronic trading. The closer that the hardware and the trading application running on it is to key endpoints such as the exchange execution gateway, the less distance any signals between those endpoints and your hardware must travel. This is typically referred to as co-location.

Many exchanges provide direct co-location in the form of rack space or dedicated cages in their data centers. The cost of such services scales with proximity and footprint. Direct exchange co-location services come at the highest premium, and are typically regulated. Managed service providers lease racks and cages from major exchanges to be able to leverage a shared cost across many different clients with connectivity costs bundled with the physical space. Third-party data center providers can also provide common data center space with proximity to one or several electronic trading exchanges – whilst not optimal, this can be a cost saving versus being in each exchange directly.

In times gone by, asking for the shortest cable runs, or even sneakily running your own cables over optimal paths, was relatively common practice. These days most exchanges will provide somewhat normalized services with equal cable lengths. However, in third-party facilities the connection to the exchange may, for example, be in one specific corner of the data center – in which case, your trading hardware within that facility again wants to be as close to that hand-off as possible.

Networking

Whether you are co-located at the exchange or at a third-party, the interconnects between all your equipment and the important market gateways are imperative for fast trading.

At a high level, networking can be broken down into local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN) considerations. The former looking at how all the systems inside a single location are connected, and the latter pertaining to connecting machines at various remote locations.

When considering remote locations, the most common and well-known method for moving data large distances are fibre providers – like those that provide your home internet, and typically provide “the backbone” of the internet. However, many specialist fibre network providers have emerged with specific focus on electronic trading and providing high speed, low latency, direct connections between strategic market locations.

In the ever-expanding pursuit for speed, other technologies have gained popularity for certain strategies, at least for those that can afford them. Microwave transmissions and Millimeter wave (mmWave) are two additional types of data transmission that have gained popularity due to the ability to provide quicker data transfer for small packets of data and can usually be erected in a more geodesic route versus traditional fibre. These technologies come with their own specific use cases and draw backs. Typically, they are costly, lack bandwidth, require direct line of sight, and are also climate dependant. The signal integrity can be affected by the weather, such as heavy rain, and can even be physically knocked out of alignment by high winds.

For local networking the cables used to connect your infrastructure and the devices between your equipment – such as switches – play a key role in the optimisation of your trading stack. Firms have been known to leverage custom-length cables within their racks to optimize physical network connectivity or use technologies such as hollow core fiber to gain a further edge. For typical fiber cabling, the rule of thumb is to consider each meter of fiber adding four nanoseconds of latency.

Once cabling is sorted, you need to consider the devices at either end of the cables. On one end, you’ll typically have a switch of some kind, and there are dedicated Ultra-Low Latency (ULL) switches designed to specifically handle exchange data feeds. On the other side, will be a network card, maybe a SmartNIC or a dedicated FPGA. These should of course be installed within an overclocked server system.

NICs + FPGAs

Network Interface Cards (NICs) handle network traffic and are essential for delivering the incoming and outgoing data that your trading strategy depends on. How this data is processed in a typical server environment contains a lot of overheads that slows down the overall transmission processing. Therefore, vendors have created finance specific network cards that optimise the hardware and software that process these transactions. Field-programmable gate array (FPGAs) are another type of hardware add-in card, typically with network ports also, which uniquely have a programable set of logic gates – this contrasts with normal network cards where the “hardware logic” is fixed from the factory. A FPGA essentially lets you program the physical hardware to perform a certain function in the most optimal way – for example sending out a buy order to the exchange. This comes with significant development expertise overhead but is much faster once implemented.

Indeed, this is just a subset of the technologies and challenges involved in implementing a successful low latency trading stack – but we can already see that there is a large amount to consider, and each link in the chain has its own speciality and associated arms race for lower latency. We can also see how the overall cost of implementing a successful trading strategy can quickly escalate as you optimise each of these hurdles.

SEC Approves 24 Exchange

24 Exchange, backed by Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures fund, had filed with the US Securities and Commission Exchange to launch the first round-the-clock exchange.  In the filing 24X said it plans to operate a fully automated electronic trading platform for the trading of listed NMS stocks 23 hours per day, 7 days per week, including certain holidays.

24 Exchange Receives SEC Approval of its New National Securities Exchange, “24X National Exchange”

 24 Exchange announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to operate 24X National Exchange as the first national securities exchange in the U.S. that allows trading of U.S. securities 23 hours each workday. The extended hour trading is subject to Equity Data Plans making changes that would facilitate overnight trading hours and 24X National Exchange making an additional rule filing with the SEC confirming the changes and the Exchange’s ability to comply with the Securities Exchange Act.

24X National Exchange will be subject to the SEC’s ongoing regulatory oversight and full range of investor protections. The new Exchange will enable retail and institutional customers anywhere in the world to trade in U.S. equities via broker-dealers who are approved members of 24X National Exchange. 

24X National Exchange will be launched in two stages. A first stage will open in the second half of 2025, with the Exchange operating from 4:00AM ET to 7:00PM ET on weekdays. The second stage, which will launch once the conditions noted above are met, will offer trading in U.S. equities from 8:00PM ET on Sunday through 7:00PM ET on Friday. A one-hour operational pause will occur during each trading day to accommodate routine software upgrades and functionality testing.

24 Exchange CEO and Founder Dmitri Galinov said: “The SEC’s approval of our new exchange is a thrilling development that the 24X Team has been working toward for many years. Traders are most at-risk when the market is closed in their geographic location. 24X National Exchange will seek to alleviate this problem by facilitating around-the-clock U.S. equities trading for broker-dealers and their institutional and retail customers.”

As the first national securities exchange approved by the SEC to operate 23 hours each weekday, subject to the conditions noted above, 24X National Exchange will initially focus on capturing the expanding demand in the APAC region for overnight liquidity in U.S. equities.

The 24X National Exchange will run on a proven, state-of-the-art technology platform provided by MEMX Technologies. The new Exchange’s executive team will place a high priority on enhancing client experience through continuous technology innovations and improvements.

“With this historic SEC approval in place, we will build and operate a customer-driven Exchange that can rapidly align with market demands and adapt quickly to client feedback,” Galinov added. “We look forward to bringing a superior trading experience to global customers. 24X National Exchange will deliver the cost efficiency, speed, resilience, and adaptability that the company’s financial institutional customers have long come to expect.”

24X National Exchange will close on U.S. market holidays, similar to the schedules maintained by the NYSE and Nasdaq.

24 Exchange through 24X Bermuda Limited, an affiliate of 24X National Exchange, will continue to offer FX NDFs, Swaps and Spot trading to institutional clients. Since its launch in 2019, 24 Exchange’s multi-asset offering through a single trading interface has enabled clients to access increased liquidity at lower cost.

Source: 24 Exchange

BlackRock Invests $50m in Pyramid Analytics

Pyramid Analytics, a market-leading, AI-driven analytics and decision intelligence company, announced it has raised $50M in new financing from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Capital Investment Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”).

The fresh investment comes on the heels of Pyramid being named a Visionary in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms, and being awarded the highest rank in all four use cases of the 2024 Gartner® Critical Capabilities for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms report.

The Pyramid platform’s unique architecture and its powerful AI/ML integration into every step of the data lifecycle eliminates operational complexity without any tradeoffs.

This ease of use and accessibility has attracted the likes of the FDA, which has adopted the company’s solution in 2024. Pyramid’s customer base also includes ABB, Hallmark, Deloitte and Volkswagen.

“We are honored by BlackRock’s vote of trust in our vision and execution as we bring the next-generation analytics solution to the upper mid-market and enterprise organizations,” said Omri Kohl, Pyramid’s co-founder and CEO.

While Pyramid spearheads the AI revolution in business intelligence, BlackRock’s investment rationale is also based on its business performance and efficiency.

“Our investment in Pyramid Analytics complements our track record of investing in innovative software and technology businesses,” said John Doyle, Managing Director at BlackRock. “We are pleased to give our clients exposure to a business such as Pyramid, that sits at the intersection of data analytics and AI capabilities, two segments that continue to benefit from robust secular tailwinds.”

In addition to being recognized by Gartner, Pyramid Analytics has also landed a number one ranking in 17 different KPIs on BARC’s 2025 BI and Analytics Survey, as well as being recognized as a leader in 52 KPIs across the various groups.

“Pyramid has positioned itself as the thought leader in the Generative BI (GenBI) and Decision Intelligence category. Fortune 2,000 customers use Pyramid on a daily basis to solve and optimize operational, complex, data informed decisions,” stated Yoav Tzruya, General Partner at JVP, and Pyramid board member. “We are proud to receive BlackRock’s support, which further validates Pyramid’s vision and market leadership, enabling us to continue our strong performance, aiming to continue and solve the hardest operational business problems for our customers, solidifying category leadership.”

Source: Pyramid Analytics

Ten Trends Shaping AI-driven Data Analytics in 2025

2024 has been another year of unprecedented growth for AI and machine learning across the financial services industry, with a staggering 80% of trading firms now using this cutting edge technology.[1] As we head into 2025, what will be the trends that dominate the industry as firms continue to leverage this technology and harness the power of transaction and market data? Mosaic Smart Data CEO Matthew Hodgson gives his top ten predictions for the year ahead.

1.            AI-Driven Decision-Making

“Investment banks will increasingly rely on AI-driven insights for decision-making, moving from historical data analysis to predictive analytics. AI models will be used by a growing number of trading firms to process vast amounts of unstructured data, improving forecasting and strategic planning.”

2.            Hyper-Personalised Client Engagement

“Using data analytics, investment banks will continue to improve their ability to offer hyper-personalised experiences tailored to clients’ investment preferences, risk profiles, and financial goals. This kind of personalized advisory will enable banks to deliver tailored solutions, deepen relationships, and anticipate client needs, boosting engagement and retention.”

3.          Real-Time Decision-Making

“Real-time data platforms will drive quicker, more informed decisions in trading, risk management, and client interactions, optimising performance and reducing latency in execution. Coupled with machine learning, this will enhance risk assessment, allowing banks to manage risks on a transaction-by-transaction basis. Predictive analytics will increasingly be used to flag potential risks before they impact the bank’s portfolio.”

4.          Digital Transformation in Sales and Trading

“Digital tools and advanced analytics will automate workflows, optimise trade execution, and provide insights to increase sales performance and maximise profitability across asset classes.”

5.          Optimised Liquidity Management

“Banks will use data to better predict liquidity needs, align inventory with client demand, and improve balance sheet efficiency, particularly in fixed-income markets. Promoting inventory to the most probable client demand will become table stakes.”

6.          AI-Powered Compliance and Surveillance

“Machine learning will enable the integration of transaction and communication surveillance, enabling better detection of fraud, insider trading, and other compliance risks to increase the identification of bad actors.”

7.          Cross-Silo Data Integration

“Investment banks will focus on breaking down internal silos by integrating data across business units, enabling holistic insights into client activity, profitability, and operational efficiency.  This will significantly improve sales effectiveness to cross sell products across asset classes.”

8.          Client Profitability Analytics

“Banks will adopt more sophisticated client profitability tools, analysing granular transaction data to identify high-value relationships and allocate resources more effectively.”

9.          Expanding Use of Alternative Data

“Non-traditional data sources, such as social media sentiment, satellite images, and climate data, will play a more significant role in investment strategies. Banks will leverage this alternative data to gain insights into market trends and investment opportunities to drive alpha generation.”

10.          Harnessing innovation to drive cost-effectiveness

“Rather than viewing innovation as a ‘nice to have’ expense, firms will increasingly look to new technologies to drive the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their operations, with a laser focus on ROI for any new solutions they deploy.”

The Impact AI Has on the Traders’ World

Press Release • updated: Nov 27, 2024 08:00 EST

LONDON, England, November 27, 2024 (Newswire.com) – AI technology has had massive implications for many different industries and sectors, with new tools saving countless hours by generating ideas and automating everyday tasks.

Alpari has put together a new report that gives an overview of how AI is changing the world of trading, as well as showing how far technology has come since the birth of computer-assisted trading in the 1970s.

AI tools traders can use fall into 4 main categories.

Language processing: Tools like Crowd Insight offered by Trading Central, which can read what news outlets are publishing about different opportunities and use this information to build a quick overview of the overall market sentiment. This includes an analysis of whether the sentiment is rational or irrational and how much weight each media outlet’s opinion holds.

MetaTrader Expert Advisors: These add-ons are made by independent developers, available for traders to use in version 4 or 5 of the trading platform MetaTrader 4. These bots use AI to analyze opportunities and even execute trades themselves on the trader’s behalf.

High-frequency trading: This is a common trading method used by large hedge fund companies. Powerful computers use algorithms to execute millions of trades in seconds – as AI technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, the effectiveness of this method may continue to increase.

Simulations: AI allows traders to simulate what would happen in the future in the event based on a huge number of variables, meaning they can test trades thoroughly before committing. Simulations are also useful for beginner traders, giving them an artificial environment in which to practice.

Computer-assisted trading has changed and developed over the years, since the founding of Nasdaq, the first electronic stock exchange, in 1971.

Program trading, which uses computer systems to execute large orders, became popular in the 1980s. The Black Monday stock market crash in 1987 was partly attributed at the time to the use of program trading, but opinion is now divided on its true causes.

In the 90s, technological advancements led to the launch of REDI, one of the first electronic order systems. The SEC ruled that Electronic Communication Networks were allowed to compete with traditional stock exchanges.

2000s: The decimalization of stock prices in 2001 made it easier for algorithms to trade in smaller quantities. The SEC introduced the Regulation National Market System in 2005, which encouraged faster trading. By 2007, algorithmic trading accounted for over 30% of equity trading volume in the US.

2010: The Flash Crash which caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to plunge nearly 1,000 points may have been due to a massive sell order carried out by an algorithm. Then, in 2012 an algorithmic trading error caused Knight Capital Group to lose $440 million.

2014: Release of Michael Lewis’s book “Flash Boys” raised awareness of high-frequency trading. By 2016, about 80% of FX trading was algorithmic – and by 2019, 60-73% of trading in the US was algorithmic.

2024: One interesting development is the way that chatbots are entering the trading space, with companies developing tools they say can give informed recommendations.

Alexey Efimov at Alpari, comments:

“AI could have major implications for traders at all levels, so it’s worth researching whether there are any tools that might be able to help you save time and trade more efficiently. As time goes on, it’s likely that these tools will develop even further and become even more advanced. However, trading is risky, with or without AI assistance, so traders should always understand that their money is at risk – don’t let AI tools give you a false sense of security.”

About Alpari

Alpari is a long-established leader in online financial trading. They pioneered online forex trading for retail clients 25 years ago, and remain focused on enabling individuals to access the potential of global financial markets.

Alpari clients are individuals with an appetite to generate financial returns through self-directed trading. They are comfortable taking risks in order to generate returns and are willing to invest time to build the skills needed to succeed.

Alpari’s promise to these clients is to enable them to “access global trading opportunities securely”. They believe that individuals anywhere in the world should be able to access opportunities in financial markets – where local political environments do not support domestic regulation, they provide solutions for individuals to access our services offshore, but offering the same service standards and client protections as a regulated business.

big xyt, Trackinsight Partner to Elevate Analytics for Global ETF Markets

27 November 2024

This collaboration between trusted industry leaders provides the highest quality data for ETFs

London, 27 November, 2024 – big xyt, a leading AI-analytics company for global financial markets, is delighted to announce its partnership with Trackinsight, a globally recognised ETF data provider. This collaboration brings together the complementary strengths of both companies to provide market participants with unparalleled insights into ETF trading and investment across the globe.

With $14 trillion in assets under management, the global ETF ecosystem is rapidly evolving, driven by increasing product complexity, regulatory changes, and growing demand for transparency. This partnership leverages big xyt’s expertise in secondary market analytics processing billions of records every day, and Trackinsight’s comprehensive coverage of ETF reference data, primary market flows, and portfolio data. Together, the firms provide an integrated, high-quality dataset to empower better decision-making for issuers, investors, exchanges, and other market participants.

By combining their capabilities, big xyt and Trackinsight enables clients to:

  • Access a comprehensive view of liquidity across the ETF landscape, integrating primary and secondary market insights.
  • Improve trading efficiency and reduce costs by providing clarity on liquidity and product quality.
  • Enhance pre-trade and post-trade analytics with improved insights for evaluating trading costs, liquidity, and market efficiency.

The collaboration will pave the way for additional services, such as liquidity analysis across global markets, and peer group analysis to help issuers benchmark their ETFs against competitors to make informed decisions on product development and market positioning.

Robin Mess, CEO of big xyt, commented: “This partnership with Trackinsight represents a pivotal milestone in our mission to deliver unmatched data transparency and actionable insights to the ETF community. At big xyt, we pride ourselves on our leadership in market analytics, offering deep insights into liquidity and trading dynamics across global markets. By aligning our expertise with Trackinsight’s exceptional reference and primary market data, we are creating a comprehensive solution that empowers investors, issuers, and intermediaries to navigate the ETF ecosystem with confidence and precision.”

Philippe Malaise, CEO of Trackinsight added: “Partnering with big xyt allows us to bring a new dimension to ETF data and analytics. Trackinsight’s focus on delivering accurate and comprehensive reference and primary market data, combined with big xyt’s expertise in secondary market analytics, creates a unique offering for the industry. This collaboration ensures that market participants can rely on a unified source for understanding ETF performance, liquidity, and trends, driving smarter decisions and greater efficiency in the market.”

This collaboration reflects the companies’ shared vision of innovation and efficiency, setting a new standard for ETF data transparency and usability across global markets.

< ENDS > 

About big xyt
big xyt’s independent analytics tools provide unrivalled data accuracy and enable users to transform data into decisions and to observations for their audience.   

big xyt has created a global ecosystem for tick data analytics covering more than 120 trading venues across equities, ETFs, FX, and listed derivatives (futures and options), and are available in T+1 and real-time. Our clients include major global investment banks, asset managers, leading exchanges and trading venues, ETF issuers, and regulatory bodies.   

big xyt’s unique private cloud-based technology normalises trade conditions of venues, allowing accurate and transparent aggregations of trading volumes, comprehensive analysis, and delivery of results in flexible and customisable formats. Our APIs support more in-depth quantitative research and feed-dependent systems such as algorithms and decision support tools, which are essential for data science and quant teams. 

In November 2024, big xyt announced a €10 million investment led by European growth investment firm Finch Capital, its first round of external investment after 10 years of profitable bootstrapped growth. 

Firms across the financial services industry choose big xyt as their data analytics partner due to our independence and ability to provide the best quality normalised data, our capability to deliver complex security and execution analytics in sophisticated and data-rich financial markets, as well as the in-depth domain experience of the big xyt team in setting up, running and maintaining data analytics environments for tick data in highly secure environments. 

About Trackinsight 
Since its founding in 2016, Trackinsight has been at the forefront of the ETF industry, delivering accessible, comprehensive, and reliable tools to support the evolving needs of investors. 

Over the years, Trackinsight has expanded its operations across six countries, serving tens of thousands of professional investors while consistently innovating to provide cutting-edge solutions that address the evolving demands of the ETF market. 

In 2024, Kepler Cheuvreux, a leading independent European financial services firm, acquired a majority stake in Trackinsight, becoming its principal shareholder. 

This strategic partnership reinforces Trackinsight’s position as a premier provider of ETF selection and analysis tools and strengthens Kepler Cheuvreux’s commitment to becoming a leading player in the ETF space. 

Together, they are focused on delivering advanced services that empower professional investors, advisors, and institutions, enabling the development of more comprehensive and innovative technological solutions to drive ETF investing to new heights.

Outsourced CIO Industry Poised for Consolidation

High levels of acquisitions are expected in the outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) industry according to research provider Cerulli.

A report from Cerulli, U.S. Outsourced Chief Investment Officer Function 2024, said the concentration of assets among the largest providers is expected to increase as industry-wide and idiosyncratic factors drive further consolidation. US assets managed by OCIO providers reached $2.9 trillion at the end of 2023 and Cerulli projected they will reach $4.2 trillion by the end of 2028, reflecting an average annual growth rate of 7.9%.

For example, in September this year the Shell Pension Fund Foundation (SSPF), which had €27bn in assets at the end of last year and more than 30,000 participants, said in a statement it has decided to appoint BlackRock as its fiduciary manager for asset management.

“SSPF’s assets will be managed by an experienced BlackRock team, leveraging the scale and global expertise of the world’s largest asset management company,” said the statement. “Moreover, BlackRock adds relevant experience with the design of the portfolio for the new pension scheme with several other clients.”

 Marc Nachmann, Goldman Sachs

In May this year Goldman Sachs Asset Management said in a statement it had been appointed by the UPS pension plan fiduciaries to provide investment management services for UPS’s US and Canadian defined benefit pension plan assets. UPS’s North American pension plans had a combined $43.4 bn in assets as of March 31, 2024.

Marc Nachmann, global head of asset & wealth management at Goldman Sachs, said in a statement: “Outsourced CIO solutions can deliver investment excellence, economies of scale and enhanced risk management while allowing corporate and pension plans of all sizes to focus on their core business.”

Large-scale OCIO providers, above the 90th percentile in assets under management, account for 61% of global OCIO assets, up from 49% in 2017 according to Cerulli.

Chris Swansey, associate director at Cerulli, said in a statement that an OCIO provider needs sophisticated investment capabilities, expertise working with large client portfolios, and a well-established investment team in order to gain scale among institutional investors. “Acquiring a well-established institutional OCIO provider may help RIAs expand into the channel and gain access to better alternative asset capabilities for their private wealth clients,” he added.

 Chris Swansey, Cerulli Associates

In addition, the rising costs of technology, compensation, and regulatory/compliance requirements have put pressure on many OCIO providers. As a result smaller providers have also shown an interest in selling all or a portion of their businesses.

“Acquisitions from outside entities such as RIAs and private equity firms could lend resources to these providers that enable them to build new market advantages,” said Swansey. “As large providers gain scale and smaller providers entrench themselves within niche markets, middle-market providers will need to differentiate their value.”

Endowments and foundations

Cerulli continued that endowment and foundation clients are one of the only client channels where both large and small OCIO providers can compete for assets.

The majority, 60%, of endowments with between $100m and $250m in AUM already use an OCIO provider and there has been an increase in the number of large institutions with more than $1bn in assets adopting the OCIO model.

 Source: Cerulli

Endowment assets managed by OCIO providers are expected to grow 11.3% annually over the next five years, according to Cerulli.

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