The first wave of gen-AI use cases across capital markets technology has sparked widespread energy and excitement about its future potential. At the same time, it has triggered a sense of urgency across infrastructure providers globally that they must act now to avoid being left behind.

Market operators face two critical questions today. Firstly, what is the right operating model and the critical capabilities they want to develop and maintain in-house or source from external providers? And secondly, how do they ensure that they will have access to these advanced capabilities, given the extraordinary level of energy and compute capacity that will be required to power their markets in the future?

If we look ahead to capital markets over the next two decades, the future of trading infrastructure will be built on a fabric of interconnected markets with a common data architecture, seamless connectivity throughout the ecosystem of exchanges and participants, minimal latency, and advanced AI-powered tooling.

Operators don’t have long to embark on their data and tech modernisation journey to get there, and we’re proud to be supporting so many of our infrastructure clients on this path. 

Gideon Mann, global head of AI technology, Millennium 

What was cutting-edge generative AI (GenAI) in early 2024 will look outdated over the next twelve months. Successful organisations will adopt a long-term GenAI strategy, balancing immediate applications with the flexibility to adapt to future innovations in this space.  

In the investment management sector, the diversity of challenges allows us to identify some of the most promising applications of GenAI. These are likely to result from a collaborative approach between technologists and their end users including investment professionals, legal, compliance and finance teams, among others. We have seen early applications of GenAI in the areas of market observability, risk assessment and operational efficiency. In 2025, organisations will be looking to scale the use cases that have shown the greatest potential. 

Jamil Jiva, global head of asset management, Linedata 

As we leave 2024 behind, artificial intelligence is set to transform industry practices. From risk management and regulatory compliance to predictive analytics and cybersecurity, AI promises to bring a new era of transparency, efficiency and innovation to the finance ecosystem. 

The widespread adoption of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) in risk assessment and management systems marks a decisive turning point. This technology is finally lifting the veil on the ‘black box’ of algorithms behind AI inference systems, offering a clear understanding of AI decision-making processes. This creates an opportunity for financial institutions to renew and reinforce the confidence of customers and regulators while improving the accuracy of their risk models. 

Nick Wood, AI product manager, FINBOURNE  

While AI clearly has the potential to enhance operating margins and reshape the asset management industry, serious adoption remains slow. This hold up is largely due to a lack of confidence in the incumbent data management processes, which need to be designed to support AI technologies.

While AI can certainly act as a feature and capability in an overall workflow, firms must be able to explain the models and trust the quality of the underlying data to get there. With AI showing so much promise, prioritising modern data infrastructures to address data quality concerns will be a priority for many asset managers next year. 

Jim Kwiatkowski, chief executive, LTX (a Broadridge company) 

This year, the fixed-income market experienced notable advancements, with credit market volumes reaching an average daily volume of $49.8 billion, reflecting a 23% year-over-year increase. This growth is projected to continue into 2025, fuelled by a steady increase of credit e-trading. 

Looking ahead, AI is poised to play a pivotal role in bond trading, transforming how fixed-income traders, analysts and portfolio managers process and leverage the growing volume of data from electronic trading. By enabling streamlined access to vast, disparate datasets, AI enhances decision-making in areas like bond selection, trade list construction and protocol optimisation. As AI adoption scales, the market can expect a more vibrant secondary trading environment characterised by improved pricing, enhanced liquidity, and stronger overall performance. 

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Ninety One trader Tom Nickalls is set to leave the asset manager after 11 years to join Morgan Stanley. According to an update on social media, Nickalls will join the sell-side next month in an emerging markets credit role. He joined Ninety One in 2013 as a client operations analyst, moving into a portfolio implementation role in 2015 and taking up his current role as fixed income trader in 2018. He was recognised as a Rising Star of Trading and Execution at Leaders in Trading in 2021.

Robert Whelan joined Citadel as equity trader following almost eight years at Pictet Asset Management. Whelan joined Pictet AM as an equity trader back in 2016. Prior to that, he worked at Morgan Stanley, initially joining as an electronic trading associate before going on to a role as equity sales trader. Whelan will act as an execution trader on behalf of the desk and his role is non-risk taking, The TRADE understands.

Lara Jacobs was appointed vice president – equities electronic trading coverage at JP Morgan following six years with Liquidnet. She most recently served as head of international client trading, EMEA. Prior to this, she worked as a market structure and strategy analyst before moving onto a role as equity trader. Before her stint with Liquidnet, London-based Jacobs worked on the debt restructuring team for fixed income at M&G Investments.

Outset Global appointed William Bradley managing director within its London office. Bradley brings considerable experience in the equity sales and trading space to the role, joining from Goldman Sachs where he served as vice president on the cross-asset sales desk in New York. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Bradley served as assistant vice president at Barclays on the equities liquid markets sales trading desk.

Bill Spencer was appointed head of client solutions at MarketAxess following five years at UBS Asset Management, most recently as executive director, multi asset centralised trading. The role is newly created, with Spencer set to hold responsibility for buy-side experience within MarketAxess’ trading system. Whilst at UBS, he worked as a senior trader on the US fixed income desk, as well as working on the daily trading of cash rates, credit, ETFs, and municipal bonds. He also lent his expertise to the trading of credit derivatives and listed futures and options. New-York based Spencer also previously held ETF-related positions at: REX Shares, Gelber Group LLC, and Chicago Trading Company.

Chris Robinson was appointed multi-asset trader at Liquidnet, joining from Louis Capital Markets where he worked for almost 13 years. He most recently served as a EMEA and US equity sales and execution trader. Prior to this he worked in equity derivatives for six and a half years, focused on Eurostoxx and sectoral indices. London-based Robinson has also previously served in a pension execution role at BDO UK LLP.

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experience working as a trader on both the buy- and sell-side.

Previously he worked as an equities and fixed income trader at James Hambro & Partners and before that as a high touch cash equities trader for Jefferies.

Read more – Trader of the Year: Millennium’s Charlotte Nutting 

Previously in his career he worked for the London Stock Exchange Group, including as a market risk analyst at LCH. 

Earlier this year, Millennium tapped UBS for a new trader, with You Khai Tan appointed as senior trader, based in Singapore.

Millennium declined to comment when approached by The TRADE.

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Millennium appointed You Khai Tan as senior trader, based in Singapore. He joined Millennium from UBS, where he spent the last 13 years, based in Hong Kong and Singapore. Most recently, Tan held a global portfolio trading position, which included trading global equities with strategy implementation via algorithms, crossing networks and global portfolio trading desks. Prior to that, Tan held a global markets, APAC cash equities position based in Singapore. Elsewhere in his career, Tan served at Maybank Investment Banking Group in an equity sales trading role.

HSBC appointed Matthew Stanton as managing director, head of equities sales trading for Americas. Stanton joined HSBC from Primary Portal, where he served as a sales consultant. Prior to that, he spent just over seven years at Barclays, most recently serving as managing director, head of cash sales trading, Americas. During his tenure at Barclays, Stanton has also served as head of cash sales trading, EMEA, based in London. Earlier in his career, Stanton spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs in a variety of senior roles based in New York and London. This included equities sales trading positions for both the Americas and EMEA. He initially joined Goldman Sachs as a NYSE floor trader.

Nomura named Hemish Shah head of EMEA flow rates in a bid to strengthen its franchise. Shah has 15 years of industry experience and was most recently head of EGBs, bond derivatives and euro inflation trading at Deutsche Bank. His expertise includes a proven track record of developing trading and risk management strategies. In this new role, he will report to both Richard Volpe, global head of rates, and Nat Tyce, head of global markets EMEA.

US-based block trading start-up OptimX selected a former Virtu buy-side sales specialist to become its new head of institutional sales. Michelle Butler joined OptimX to head up its buy-side business after most recently serving at Virtu for 19 years, managing sales for its POSIT Alert business. Prior to joining Virtu, she spent six years as head of sales and coverage at E-Crossnet – one of Europe’s first peer-to-peer crossing networks.

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He joins Millennium from UBS, where he spent the last 13 years, based in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Most recently, Tan held a global portfolio trading position, which included trading global equities with strategy implementation via algorithms, crossing networks and global portfolio trading desks.

Prior to that, Tan held a global markets, APAC cash equities position based in Singapore.

Elsewhere in his career, Tan served at Maybank Investment Banking Group in an equity sales trading role.

He announced his appointment in a social media post, adding: “I’m grateful for this opportunity to broaden my horizons and am thankful to the wonderful individuals and mentors in my professional life.”

In November, Umair Khan Marwat joined Millennium as a trader, following almost two and a half years at Balyasny Asset Management.

Elsewhere, Millennium appointed Ryan Cain in an equites-focused role, joining from Segantii Capital Management, where he served as a trader for nearly six years.

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Ponzio will be based in New York, responsible for managing the firm’s program trading and ETF market making businesses. He joins BTIG after most recently heading up execution strategy at Millennium – a role he held for nearly 12 years. Previously in his career, he also spent eight years at Citi, building out its US trading algorithms and systematised risk pricing on its cash trading desk.

JP Morgan appointed a new head of global equities amid wider changes to senior leadership in its markets division. According to an internal memo published on Thursday 15 February, Rachid Alaoui has been appointed head of global equities at JP Morgan.

Alaoui was most recently head of global equity derivatives trading at JP Morgan, covering flow derivatives, exotics, corporate derivatives and convertible bond trading franchises. He joined JP Morgan in 2005 as a trader on the equity exotics desk in London. He has since held multiple roles managing equity exotics and flow trading desks in London and head of global volatility trading in equities.

The news follows JP Morgan’s earlier appointment of two new co-heads of its markets division – Jason Sippel and Pranav Thakur – in January as part of wider changes to leadership in the division.

Sippel has been with JP Morgan since 2002. Previously in his career he also served at Overstock.com, Credit Suisse, and Merrill Lynch. He began his career as an analyst at Lehman Brothers in 1993.  Thakur was most recently appointed head of global macro markets and emerging markets credit in 2022 after also previously leading currencies, commodities and emerging markets trading.

MUFG appointed Wael Al Sharif as head of global corporate and investment banking (GCIB) for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, effective from 1 April 2024. He succeeds Elyas Al Gaseer who had held the post of head of GCIB MENA since 2013. Al Gaseer’s role is being transformed to become vice chair of GCIB MENA, responsible for advising MUFG’s senior clients across the MENA region.

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Effective from December 2023, Stephen Ponzio has joined BTIG as its head of execution strategy. In his new role, he will also co-head electronic trading and be responsible for the development of BTIG’s new generation algorithms.

Ponzio will be based in New York, responsible for managing the firm’s program trading and ETF market making businesses.

He joins BTIG after most recently heading up execution strategy at Millennium – a role he held for nearly 12 years. Previously in his career, he also spent eight years at Citi, building out its US trading algorithms and systematised risk pricing on its cash trading desk.

“His expertise in algorithmic trading and strategic management will strengthen our global portfolio and electronic trading team and will enable us to enhance processes and provide optimal solutions for our clients,” said Thomas Smykowski, head of systematic trading at BTIG.

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Nutting graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in Geography in 2013. After leaving university, she undertook several sell-side internships at RBC, Nomura and Fisher Investments, returning to RBC in 2014 to work on its cash management team for its foreign exchange traders. In 2016, Nutting moved to Principia Investment Management Limited where she was an execution trader and fund manager assistant. It was then that her buy-side career began to blossom.

Nutting spent just over three and a half years in the role before joining Millennium in September 2019, where she operated as a multi-asset trader, also responsible for index rebalance and market structure. That same year, she was recognised by The TRADE and the industry as a Rising Star of Trading and Execution.

Nutting has been with Millennium for over four years and was promoted to senior trader in February 2022. Nutting is committed to furthering gender diversity within the industry at large, mentoring junior individuals and helping to coordinate industry networking initiatives including the Women of Millennium Network (WOMN) in Europe.

What has your journey to the trading desk been like?

Anything but straightforward! Like most graduates, I had no idea what kind of career I wanted to pursue upon finishing my studies. I completed an internship in finance and fast forward to 10 years later, I am now a trader. After my internship, I explored a few different roles before choosing an operations position, specific to cash management. This role allowed me to work closely with FX traders and opened my eyes to the world of trading. I loved the fast-paced nature and knew it was something I wanted to explore further. In 2016, I joined a small European long/short firm as a fund manager’s assistant and trader. It was this role that enabled me to learn to trade and I spent over three years at the firm. I joined Millennium in 2019 as a trader before being promoted in 2022 to senior trader. 

What drew you to trading?

It sounds cliché but I appreciate that every day is different, and that I never know what a company might announce or what headlines will hit, if any. I think there is a huge amount of unpredictability in trading, and that is what keeps me engaged and challenged. Most people associate trading with “numbers,” but what I love most about trading is the human aspect of the role. As a trader, I think it is critical to build strong relationships with portfolio managers, brokers and various internal teams, and this is something I look forward to and enjoy on a daily basis.

You started on the sell-side, what made you move over?

I was working in operations and was keen to make the move to a trading role. So, when a compelling opportunity presented itself to join a small fund where I would get exposure to trading, I jumped at the opening. I wasn’t intentional about being on the buy-side, it just happened to work out that way. 

What made you choose a role in multi-asset?

For over three years, I only traded equities, so moving to a role where I would be trading multi-asset was attractive. I like how certain assets have their own nuances and are impacted by different market events. By having the knowledge and skillset of trading multiple assets that I have today, I have the ability to build a broader view of the market compared to when I was trading just one single asset class. 

How do you split up your day? What’s your favourite part of it?

Unsurprisingly, every day is geared around the hours of the market, which opens at 8am. My day starts early, before the market opens, I spend time digesting overnight and pre-market news, and then I prepare for the day ahead. Depending on the day, I spend the majority of my time trading, whether it be monitoring orders, speaking with portfolio managers, or exploring opportunities. A portion of my day is always spent working with brokers to continue developing our relationships and the offerings we consume from them. From my experience, Millennium encourages entrepreneurship, so on quieter days I often spend time working on projects that we are focused on as a desk. These projects vary in nature and can be related to process enhancements, technology changes or market structure updates. 

How did it feel to win Trader of the Year?

Firstly, congratulations to all the winners and those who were shortlisted and thank you to The TRADE for hosting such an enjoyable evening. I was delighted to have won this award, though all of the nominees would have been deserving winners and are respected in the industry. Knowing that this award is voted for by peers and colleagues means a lot as it shows they recognise the work that is being done and the value our working relationships have. 

You do a lot of work for gender diversity in front-office roles, could you tell us more about that and why it’s important to you?

As a woman, I know the challenges women can face in front-office roles, which is why I am passionate about attracting women to such roles and supporting them grow and develop in order to achieve their career aspirations. When I moved into trading, I learned the importance of fostering and contributing to an environment where women can connect, learn and support one another. 

Today, I am the co-chair of Millennium’s Women of Millennium Network (WOMN) EMEA, which empowers and connects women at the firm through networking opportunities, professional development and mentoring. I’ve helped put on workshops, social events and fireside chats, and most recently, I spearheaded a work experience insight programme for women who are currently in sixth form at school. This programme focused on trading and investments and consisted of both internal and external speakers. Over the last five years I’ve seen the finance industry as a whole work incredibly hard at challenging and changing their gender diversity and it’s great to see the progress that is being made in this space.

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London-based Juric was previously director of sales and business development at the business, in the fixed income – credit department.

Her previous experience includes a stint at MarketAxess in an eTrading sales role covering France and Belgium, and before that as an investment specialist – structured products, funds, and ETFs – indices at BNP Paribas Fortis.

Juric has also worked for Groupe Crédit du Nord in a structured products and sales role, and at Crédit Agricole CIB in sales and marketing e-business flow rates. 

Read more: Polar Capital’s head of trading departs for rival hedge fund Millennium

Speaking in an announcement on social media, Millennium Advisors said: “Marion has been with Millennium since 2018. Over the past five years she has had a huge impact on the growth of our London business, playing a pivotal role in the expansion our client footprint across EMEA and APAC, and in shaping our team.
 
“As our business continues to be more global in reach and outlook, we want to ensure our organisation is structured to best support our growth ambitions, and promoting Marion is an important piece of that puzzle.”

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Hong Kong-based Marwat previously worked at Credit Suisse, focused on AES, algorithmic, and direct market access (DMA) trading, before joining Balyasny Asset Management in 2021 as a trader. 

His career also included a stint at AlphaSights as a junior associate for the APAC region.

Millennium has had a stellar year, named Trading Desk of the Year Hedge Fund at The TRADE’s Leaders in Trading event last week.

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

Earlier this month, Jefferies’ Dan Childs departed his role as managing director, head of European prime services sales, EMEA to join Balyasny Asset Management.

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