As part of the development, Northern Trust will provide outsourced trading primarily for Avanza Fonder’s global, emerging market, European and US equity market index funds.

Founded in 2006, Avanza Fonder is a wholly owned subsidiary of Avanza Bank Holding which provides services for private clients.

The fund company manages funds in-house and in collaboration with other managers.

Read more: Fireside Friday with… Northern Trust’s Amy Thorne

 “After opting to bring the management of our index funds in-house, we aimed to find a solution that would streamline our trading processes so we could concentrate on what matters most, which is to achieve outstanding results for our clients,” said Jesper Bonnivier, chief executive at Avanza Fonder.

“By collaborating with Northern Trust and utilising their ITS platform, we’ve gained access to greater liquidity and scale, enabling us to drive growth and consistently surpass client expectations.”

The past year has seen multiple investment managers outsource their trading to Northern Trust.

Most recently, UK-based asset manager Artemis selected Northern Trust to provide outsourced trading services for its equities and derivatives activity, effective January 2025.

In August, Northern Trust was also selected to provide outsourced trading to global asset manager Nedgroup Investments via its Integrated Trading Solutions (ITS). Specifically, Northern Trust will support Nedgroup with its new in-house multi-boutique fixed income platform.

Read more: Northern Trust tapped by True Potential for outsourced trading solutions

“We are delighted to be working with Avanza Fonder, a leading fund manager in the Nordic region, to support them across the trading spectrum through an integrated middle-and back-office solution,” said Gerard Walsh, global head of client solutions banking and markets at Northern Trust.

“Our customised services will help Avanza Fonder navigate ongoing global market challenges, allowing them to focus on managing the assets entrusted to them, whilst we work with them to effectively manage the trade and post-trade lifecycle.”

The post Avanza Fonder outsources trading to Northern Trust appeared first on The TRADE.

There has been a shift in the size and scale in the types of managers that we’re talking to. My new favourite saying is that I don’t think this is a recessionary product any longer, but rather a future state. The way that people are thinking about it has changed dramatically over the last couple of years and a lot of that is driven through how customisable the product is through the whole life cycle of trading. Obviously, execution is a key piece of it, but just looking at all the different parts and how that can come under one commission rate is completely different. We did a survey on about 300 global asset managers and one of the main themes that came out of that was around outsourcing. Around 30% of them said that they would look at outsourcing trading, which demonstrates how much momentum there is in this space. It’s driving that capital light variable cost operating model that you can no longer ignore.

The other really key area for us as a product has been fixed income. We’ve seen a 98% growth in the last three years in our fixed income space and we actually launched a fixed income desk from Sydney in September. That is bolstering the 24/6 offering that we have around that asset class. It helps to have people on the ground that can help support firms based in the UK or in the US from that perspective. Another factor that’s key and won’t be that much of a surprise is the trading technology and infrastructure itself. It’s critical that you remain on top of that and it’s really expensive. If you can leverage somebody else’s expertise and infrastructure from that perspective it is instant cost saving.

What is driving these trends on the client side?

A lot of it goes back to pressure on managers. Everyone knows that there are costs and performance pressures, but it comes down to where can you gain operational efficiencies, regulatory reporting help or instant access to new products – whether it’s a different asset class or region. Co-sourcing in particular has been a big theme this year. The expense of setting up in a new market for a new product is high, you’ve got to get through a hiring process and everyone knows that that alone can take months. We’ve seen quite a few clients diversify into different asset classes over the last 12-18 months with interest rates changing and things like that. There’s also access to liquidity which is becoming more and more difficult. We’ve now got more than 500 different brokers for equities and fixed income.

T+1 was also a really big driver for us – we’ve seen quite a few managers who were looking to solve for different positions around that. Northern Trust has got offices in Chicago, New York, London and Sydney covering different asset classes and from that side of it, you’ve got the security. To some extent we’ve seen quite a lot of managers look at us for BCP purposes. They’ll have a line open and they have the infrastructure there but if something was disastrously to go wrong, whether it’s on a regional basis or macro or something internal they’ve got us as a backup.

What is driving change in the outsourced trading provider landscape?

We’ve noticed quite a lot of M&A activity. The underlying aim of that is achieving scalability of growth, access to liquidity, the governance structure, and basically whole product. The industry is really viewing outsourced trading as a high quality product now and with that comes a really high standard, high expectations of what you can deliver. Execution is key but it’s the scalability, the operational efficiencies, the support around regulatory reporting, the data analytics, the number of broker and venues that you can get to, and the advanced technology that’s wrapped around it.

Where the competitive landscape side of it is growing it’s great because it’s giving more optionality to everyone, it’s validating what we’ve been doing for a really long time now. If you’re active or passive and you’re looking at it from a fully outsourcing perspective or from a co-sourcing perspective, we see it as the future and it’s going to become a really imperative part of your operating model regardless of who it is. There are too many pros now for it to be ignored.

What would you say to those who remain anti-outsourced trading?

We always talk about the journey. It’s got to be the right time. There are going to be certain trigger points, whether that’s a new member on your C-Suite or additional cost pressures or access to liquidity or a new asset class or market. There are so many individual trigger points that happen at all of these firms at different times. This is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore and avoid. The route that we take is it’s a partnership for us -it’s not about taking jobs.

We have some clients who were still doing the trading themselves and their response has been ‘I can go back to doing what I’m meant to be doing, which is picking stocks, not deciding how to trade them’. That helps bolster their infrastructure too. We’re at a really exciting point in the life cycle of outsource trading, there’s massive momentum around it. You can’t ignore it, but also don’t be afraid of it. It’s not about putting people out of work, it’s about creating opportunity.

The post Fireside Friday with… Northern Trust’s Amy Thorne appeared first on The TRADE.

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.

Amy Thorne

Specifically, Northern Trust will support Nedgroup with its new in-house multi-boutique fixed income platform. 

The firm confirmed that the premier fund on the platform, Nedgroup Investment’s Global Strategic Bond Fund, is set to feature a range of active fixed income strategies. 

Amy Thorne, head of integrated trading solutions for EMEA at Northern Trust highlighted that despite the popularity of equity outsourcing among managers, the outsourcing of a fixed income desk has remained less common.

“Recently, we’ve seen this perception shift, with a 144% growth in trade flow activity coming across our fixed income desk in 2023. Nedgroup selected Northern Trust due to the flexibility of our ITS solution which is able to scale seamlessly with the fund’s growth, as well as our broad access to liquidity networks and our bench of expert traders.”

The move is the latest in a string of entities outsourcing some part of its trading to Northern Trust. Last December, UK-based investment management firm Waverton outsourced a portion of its trading to Northern Trust Integrated Trading Solutions (ITS) with the firm supporting the trading of equities, derivatives and fixed income assets.

In May 2024, Singapore-based investment manager New Silk Road outsourced its trading to Northern Trust as it sought to fortify its offering as T+1 loomed, whilst most recently, earlier this month, UK-based wealth management firm True Potential chose Northern Trust to provide outsourced trading services across equities, fixed income and exchange traded derivatives, with coverage from multiple trading locations. 

David Roberts, head of fixed income at Nedgroup Investments, asserted: “It’s difficult to over-estimate the importance of access to market liquidity in bond fund management. Utilising the services of Northern Trust and their wide and varied liquidity pools affords Nedgroup the ability to put our theory into practice, essential when being nimble is a key component of our process.” 

The post Nedgroup Investments outsources to Northern Trust appeared first on The TRADE.

The post Northern Trust tapped by True Potential for outsourced trading solutions appeared first on The TRADE.

Formerly a compliance box ticking exercise, firms are now leveraging TCA as a tool throughout the execution process to achieve better results. Today, trades are not solely measured by outcome in isolation, but instead, the focus has shifted towards understanding the holistic impact of every transaction on portfolio performance, risk management, and overall market dynamics. TCA offers a sophisticated methodology designed to scrutinise an entire trade journey, from inception to completion, unravelling the hidden costs and opportunities along the way.

Evolution

From its nascent beginnings as a rudimentary tool for post-trade evaluation, TCA has evolved into a more sophisticated device, in some cases utilising advanced analytics and real-time data to assess and bolster trade execution. However, reservations about its usage still exist among users.

“There’s still this mistrust of TCA [among traders] because who’s to say whether I’ve done a good job or not? There are so many different components that answer that question and you can’t capture it all in data,” argues Paul Squires, head of trading, EMEA and APAC equities at Invesco.

“There’s often that initial resistance but we’re moving to a place where traders are now, for the most part, much more engaged with it. Traders look at data and deploy it in a much more meaningful way in terms of their day-to-day job, rather than a monthly compliance check that you need to complete – TCA is becoming something that is much more embedded in trading decisions.”

TCA is evolving towards something more proactive, utilising predictive analytics that enable market participants to anticipate and mitigate execution risks, optimise trading strategies, and help to generate alpha. The data is increasingly being used as more than a simple measurement, but instead is being applied to make better informed trading decisions.

“Some of this has been regulatory driven, of course, but there remains the quest – and rightly so – to utilise TCA for actionable insight and additional alpha, with the users getting smarter and smarter in how they approach this,” says Michael Richter, global head of trading analytics at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “[…] There seems to be more synchronisation around the analysis internally than there ever was.”

Instead of simply being a report on outcomes, TCA is now using real-time data to provide organisations with methods to achieve better outcomes. Back testing with historical data is also being used to identify where a trading decision could’ve been changed to reduce costs while still achieving trading objectives. And these reports are being shared at investor level.

“We’ve gone from providing TCA because it’s a need and a requirement for a regulatory purpose, to actually looking at the TCA to drive future trading decisions and to drive an improvement in the overall outcomes of trading using the data as the insight for that process,” states Victoria Bryan, vice president, lead data analyst for capital markets at Northern Trust.

Value

When it comes to TCA, we’re talking about measuring a theoretical and implicit cost of trading which affects performance. By being able to measure that and then – in the best case – improve on that, a real measurable value linked to TCA is established.

“The value of TCA is you’re spending time thinking about your investment process, how to clean and capture that data, how to communicate that data back to end users in a way to help them understand markets better, understand their counterparties better, and understand their trading workflows better,” says Kevin O’Connor, head of analytics and workflow technology at Virtu Financial.

TCA is only as valuable as the output, and it needs to be incredibly accurate. The interpretation of TCA requires people to know exactly what it is that they’re looking at and ensure it is reliable and robust.

Adding to that, performance can be improved overtime by using post-trade analysis and plugging that back in at a pre-trade level, which can then potentially shift decision making and trading processes.

“As a TCA vendor, we can provide best-in-class proprietary metrics, but it all comes down to how the firms are using the data. TCA and trading analytics are at their most powerful when the output is used in a way to actually tell a clear story,” emphasises Richter.

“TCA was built in the first instance to provide users with benchmark measurement of their trading activity and to provide actionable insight into their trading, the compliance use case was always secondary.”

As much as TCA can provide valuable insights to make data analytics more actionable for traders, Invesco’s Squires reveals a much more practical level in which TCA can be used, particularly in a managerial position.

“If you put data in front of a trader and say, without any agenda, without any bias, your trading data looks a little bit better/worse this month than last – whether those results are authentic and representative or not, what you will get is a response,” he says.

“The benefit of TCA is not from forensically analysing the data – and there is an argument that we have become perhaps a bit too forensic about it – but simply the fact that it creates a discussion with your traders about their performance and why they have behaved in certain ways.”

Usage depending on asset classes

TCA varies across asset classes due to differences in market structure, liquidity and execution dynamics, requiring tailored methodologies and metrics for more meaningful insights and accurate evaluation.

More mature asset classes such as equities tend to be able to extract the most value from TCA, but increasingly other asset classes are becoming more advanced in their use of data and analytics in parallel with increased electronification and on-venue trading in some markets.

Equity TCA is the most robust out of all the asset classes because it has the most market data associated with it, argues Northern Trust’s Bryan. “The other asset classes are more challenging because there is less data available for the comparison,” she says.

Generally speaking, it can be argued that if you’re trading algorithmically or trading on- exchange, you can be pretty granular and precise with the analysis that you’re doing. Something that doesn’t extend to all corners of the markets.

Mark Montgomery

“In fixed income, you’ve got things that are exchange listed, you’ve got very liquid bonds that trade as freely as equities and they’re somewhat easier to measure. However, 90% of bonds don’t trade from issuance to maturity. So how do you even know what the right benchmark could be for something that doesn’t trade if you were forced into that execution?” questions Mark Montgomery, head of strategy and business development at big xyt.

“The more regulated the market and the more exchange driven it is, the more effective I believe the TCA can be.”

Over the years, TCA within asset classes such as fixed income has grown into a more mainstream product, being used by investment institutions worldwide.

However, “each asset class has to be taken on its own merits, as they have unique market microstructures and nuances which have to be taken into account,” argues Richter. “We see much more of a compliance use case in these asset classes as opposed to the preferred actionable insight approach.”

Similarly, foreign exchange (FX) TCA can be argued to be less developed when compared to equities. However, it has grown from simply defining what was being measured, to now determining if there is something that can be applied differently to improve trading outcomes.

“The principles are generally the same across asset classes – measure first, decide if there’s some way to compare it to an alternative and decide if it’s worthwhile to change the process to actually lower costs,” says O’Connor.

Making trade analytics more actionable

With growing amounts of available data, it brings into question how this is applied. Having data is only useful if it is then used to better inform trading decisions. TCA culminates knowledge of past outcomes and pushes it towards making a recommendation for how one can trade a specific order when a similar scenario comes about.

“There are some benchmarking elements which are based on normal market conditions or our own historic trading data,” says Invesco’s Squires. “Then there’s a sense of what’s actually happening in the market at the particular moment, where trader instinct can override the data-driven, backward-looking recommendation. The point being that the signal in an EMS to make that recommendation, is looking at historic TCA. TCA is really gauging whether the previous way you traded it worked well or not.”

Building on this, TCA is able to provide insights into who has been traded with, how it was traded, and the costs associated with that trade, while also providing potential new techniques to tackle that trade in the future.

“It’s actionable in the sense that I’ve analysed data, drawn conclusions from that and then used it to perhaps make a change in how I’m segmenting orders, how I’m routing orders and who I’m giving those orders to,” says O’Connor.

Ultimately, it comes down to how firms are using the data. “Gone are the days of people just looking at implementation shortfall and VWAP,” emphasises Richter. “There is a need to understand direct market impact, reversions, liquidity vs aggressiveness, adverse tick activity etc. Using these smarter metrics where necessary, provides a much more valuable analyses.”

To make trade analytics more actionable, we see increasing collaboration between traders and data scientists and/or research analysts. The core benefit of the these typically separate teams communicating with one another is helping shift data into something that is more substantial and useful in the grand scheme of trading.

Victoria Bryan

“If you look at equity TCA and you look at all of the data points that are available, it can be overwhelming to look at and you’re not really sure how to get those actionable insights out of that analysis. If you have an analyst or data scientist, a team of people that are able to disseminate that information, what they can do is they can find what those post-trade insights are,” says Bryan. “By putting it into some sort of pre-trade

philosophy or mechanism, you’re able to test if those actionable insights were valuable and then that gives you more data to support getting closer and closer to the best results over time.”

Collaboration is key

Increased collaboration between traders and data scientists is proving beneficial in helping improve future execution strategies. It is worth noting, however, that a huge level of trust needs to exist between the two.

Collaboration needs to be impartial. If traders don’t have the confidence in the underlying data, or the people presenting that data, it is not going to be as valuable. In the same breath, it has to be understood that the role of the trader is still paramount.

“Once people realise that you can’t exclusively do this from a data science view, you need to pair it with someone who is living and breathing in this environment, that’s when you start to really get some of these experiments that are successful, where you actually start to see cost savings or optimised trading,” argues Erin Stanton, global head of portfolio and trading analytic client support at Virtu Financial.

“We’re starting to think about how we can summarise down the metrics to two or three really easy to consume pieces of information and present those to the trader as a co-pilot scenario. It’s not autopilot – I’m not bypassing the trader – I’m instead enabling the trader with better information than they had previously.”

Collaboration is essential, however, trader intuition is still incredibly important given the varying nature of financial markets on a daily basis.

“The trading research team can do much better analysis on smaller orders, partly because liquidity profiles are easier to understand and are more predictable. As soon as you get an order that’s more than about 30% of average daily volume – i.e. spans more than a single day – a lot of those metrics go out the window,” argues Squires.

Kevin O’Connor

“We let the research team run with their testing on systematic orders but we definitely apply a liquidity profile above which we need to be more circumspect about pure quantitative analysis and that’s where traders can apply their own experience, instinct and dynamic knowledge of the market and reading of the market.”

With increased trust and an understanding of the roles played by the trader and data scientist, once the value of TCA is established, the data can help free up time for traders to focus on more important, higher value trades.

“It frees up the trading desk to carry out their primary function of trading knowing that the performance numbers and TCA data are being scrutinised by an expert who will highlight patterns and trends which feedback to the trading desk and ultimately add significant alpha to the way orders are traded,” says Richter. “It’s not so much a luxury anymore but more of a necessity to have this type of resource.”

Moving forward

As with anything related to technology, improvements can still be made, with the same applying for TCA. Although improvements within this function can appear to be incremental, it is still worth acknowledging that progress is being made – be it through more actionable data insights or improved usage of TCA in asset classes apart from equities.

“Thinking about things like consolidated tape as an industry, that’s being worked on in fixed income and progress is being made – that’s the type of thing that would improve the value of a fixed income TCA report and the output of that report,” suggests Bryan.

“Trying to get to the state that we’re at with equities with the other asset classes may be somewhat of an impossible dream, but if people aim for that to be the golden standard, the closer we get to that, the more valuable TCA is going to be for the other asset classes.”

As TCA progresses and improves, the hope is that trade analytics can become more actionable, resulting in improved trading outcomes for its users. The advancement shouldn’t be viewed as an attack on a traders’ abilities, but instead something that aids processes.

Erin Stanton

“One thing that I think people forget is traders have ears, having the communication through our eyes and mouths is one thing, but what you hear around on a trading desk is harder to bring to bear,” says Montgomery. “The interpretation of market movement at the moment in time and the ability to filter out the noise as well is important.”

As previously noted, collaboration between traders and data scientists is essential as it has the ability to merge domain expertise with quantitative rigor, ensuring that insights derived from data actually align with the reality of current markets.

“To turn even comprehensive data analysis into a decision about how you trade differently is really difficult – but our aspiration – as you can end up being a bit too swamped with data and unable to draw any clear conclusions. Where this can evolve is drawing on reliable, pre-trade and proprietary data in your EMS which is smart enough to make a trading recommendation based on an expected trading cost vs an execution outcome that is ‘guaranteed’. It should be easier than it currently is – the concept is simple – but getting trustworthy data is really, really challenging. That’s where we aim to get to,” concludes Squires.

The post Conscious usage of TCA: Making trade analytics more actionable appeared first on The TRADE.

Yen Leng Ong

Specifically, trading will be provided via Northern Trust’s ITS, which is offered through the institutional brokerage part of the firm’s Banking and Markets segment, which also provides: FX, securities lending, and transition management services.

Yen Leng Ong, country executive, Southeast Asia at Northern Trust, explained that New Silk Road approached the firm looking for a solution “to help navigate cross-border trading challenges amidst a changing market structure in North America”.

Leng Ong added: “By enabling our client-centric solution approach, we determined that our ITS offering was the right fit to provide seamless integrated middle to back-office processing along with efficient trade execution. We look forward to continuing to build our relationship with New Silk Road to enhance their global trading needs.”

Read more: T+1 Industry Issues Forum 2024: Funding and FX challenges

The imminent shift to T+1 in the US is a clear catalyst for this move as Asia-based asset managers expect big challenges due to the time differences.

Northern Trust’s outsourced trading capability “combines worldwide trading expertise in equities and fixed income, exchange traded derivatives, futures and exchange traded funds (ETFs) across global markets,” claims the firm. In addition, the offering includes coverage from multiple trading locations.

Read more: Over half of asset managers do not believe that the T+1 shift will make US equities more attractive

“T+1 introduces significant market timing challenges to investors and managers in Singapore and New Silk Road has a strong understanding of the issues involved in this change,” said Gerard Walsh, global head of client solutions, banking and markets at Northern Trust.

“Northern Trust is very pleased to be working with New Silk Road to ensure their US dollar execution, trade matching, clearing, settlement process, and trade-related foreign exchange are managed as a single lifecycle.” 

In addition to the trading services, the firms confirmed that Northern Trust is set to continue to provide global custody services for New Silk Road funds – which it has done since 2011.

The post Singaporean investment manager New Silk Road outsources trading to Northern Trust appeared first on The TRADE.

Technology appears to be at the heart of that change, with 77% planning to leverage new tech within the same timeframe. Managers have shifted their attention to supporting asset classes like infrastructure, digital assets, and real estate, the report noted, which in turn can increase the complexity for managers.

In addition, the report reveals a pivot away from a focus on cost control more to enhancing quality and accuracy, with 72% of respondents citing that as a top strategic priority for the next two years. Additionally, seven in 10 respondents view improving the investor experience as a key objective, further emphasising a client-centric approach.  

Data continues to be a key consideration for asset managers when business planning. When asked how they plan to address data challenges in the next two years, 57% of respondents said they intend to engage a specialised data service provider, while 45% will seek a custodian’s outsourced data solutions.  

Clive Bellows, incoming EMEA president at Northern Trust, said: “We are seeing more focused strategies, with increasing focus on the use of data to inform distribution and identify where their particular areas of expertise will likely be most attractive to end-investors. In Europe, this includes focusing on new fund products such as the ELTIF and LTAF, which are of growing interest to both managers and investors. 

“Additionally, asset managers’ plans to invest further in analytics to support their investment processes are a growing theme. We see this evidenced, for example, in their use of our data science solutions that allow them to digitize their investment processes, or combine trade data with behavioural science to identify decision patterns over time. Managers need to be able to digest their portfolio information, analyse the data on hand and decipher what it is telling them more quickly so they can double down on successful distribution strategies.” 

The survey also took stock on the current appetite for outsourcing, finding that 27% of asset managers plan to control costs through outsourcing non-core activities in the next two years, notably trading. Other areas include: securities finance, liquidity management, foreign exchange and other capital market activities where outside providers can potentially add efficiency to a manager’s operating model.

Bellows added: “The use of outsourcing providers in the back-office space continues to grow and evolve, but as we have seen in prior surveys, outsourcing front office capabilities is also something that more and more firms are prepared to consider. This would include outsourced trade execution, cash and currency management.” 

The study was conducted in collaboration with WBR Insights, which surveyed 300 CEOs, CIOs, directors of operations and senior executives from across APAC, EMEA and North America regions, from asset management firms with assets under management (AUM) of $500 billion and below. 

The post Asset managers looking to shake up strategy in next two years, Northern Trust survey finds appeared first on The TRADE.

The changes came as a result of increased operational complexity stemming from the previously reported merger of Credit Suisse by UBS, which has been documented extensively by The TRADE over the past year.

UBS agreed to take over Credit Suisse in a deal which moved forward without the approval of shareholders, under emergency ordinance issued by the Swiss Federal Council. At the time, the Swiss National Bank said that the takeover provided a solution “to secure financial stability and protect the Swiss economy in this exceptional situation”. 

Following the takeover, UBS’ electronic trading responsibility was split into two distinct parts, with Chris Marsh continuing to be responsible for the electronic trading product and Mark Goodman assuming the role of head of electronic trading. Elsewhere, UBS made several other role changes, including Srichakri Adhikarapatti taking responsibility of the Central Risk Book (CRB) – a critical part of the execution services business, as well as joining the Execution Services Management Forum (ESMF). Zain Nizami, global head of cash equity trading, also joined ESMF as well as having oversight of CRB risk.

6. SIX head of equities departs for Citadel Securities

Another people move made our top 10 most read stories this year, with SIX’s head of equities, Adam Matuszewski, resigning from the exchange group after over 10 years to take up a new role at Citadel Securities.

Adam Matuszewski

Based in London, Matuszewski joined the market maker as its new head of business development for EMEA. He spent the last ten and a half years at SIX in equities focused roles, originally joining the exchange in 2013 in a trainee product management role for equities. Since his initial role, Matuszewski rose up through the ranks going on to become product manager for equities, senior product manager and finally head of the asset class.

Matuszewski filled in a gap left by Matteo Balladori, who The TRADE revealed had left Citadel after nearly six years to join Nasdaq European Markets as a senior sales director. Prior to joining Citadel Securities, Balladori served at the London Stock Exchange in its secondary market division for almost two years.

5. Northern Trust promotes from within for new head of global foreign exchange

Our fifth most read story of the year was, once again, a change in personnel. This time being the internal promotion from Northern Trust for its new head of global foreign exchange within its capital markets business.

Dane Fannin was named global head of global foreign exchange (GFX) and securities finance. In his new role, he became responsible for innovation and business growth across Northern Trust’s suite of GFX and securities finance solutions. Fannin took up the role after spending the last 17 years at Northern Trust within its capital markets business in Asia Pacific and London, most recently as its global head of securities finance. He originally joined the bank in 2006 in a securities lending role.

Northern Trust has made a string of key appointments over the last year including Guido Baltussen, who was appointed international head of quantitative strategies at Northern Trust Asset Management, a newly created role in which he oversees EMEA and APAC. In this role, Baltussen focuses on quantitative research and innovation, thought leadership, and investment strategy, leveraging his extensive factor investing expertise. Elsewhere, former Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse alumnus, Sonia Davies, joined Northern Trust as senior vice president of Integrated Trading Solutions, the firm’s outsourced trading business. She joined Northern Trust from Software-as-a-Service provider, Enfusion, where she served as EMEA head of partnerships and alliances.

More recently, Northern Trust tapped a 22-year BlackRock alumnus to become the new president of its asset management division. Daniel Gamba joined Northern Trust Asset Management (NTAM) as president, joining the asset manager after over two decades with BlackRock, most recently as its co-head of fundamental equities.

The post The TRADE’s most read stories of the year part two: A string of leadership changes appeared first on The TRADE.

The deal follows a review by the investment manager of its operating model intended to help it better align its structure with plans for product expansion in the future. Waverton has £9.1 billion in assets under management.

Two of Waverton’s trader, Rene Naya and Sam Tresadern, have joined Northern Trust as part of the agreement.

“Outsourcing our trading to Northern Trust provides Waverton with access to global markets, high-quality liquidity and operational scale, while also allowing us to continue benefiting from Rene and Sam’s valuable institutional knowledge of our business,” said Michael Allen, chief operating officer at Waverton.

“In addition to both organisations’ strong service ethos and cultural fit, we are confident this combination delivers the service and operational resilience we require to support our growth aspirations.”

Northern Trust is supporting the trading of equities, derivatives and fixed income assets as Waverton’s sole provider of trading services.

“We are excited to be supporting Waverton’s commitment to client service and focus on growth in our role as its outsourced trading provider,” said Glenn Poulter, global head of brokerage and ITS at Northern Trust.

“To date, our ITS client base has consisted primarily of institutional asset managers and asset owners, but we see increasing interest in this solution from wealth managers as they look to enhance operating capacity and future-proof their operating models. Our appointment by Waverton is testament to this shift.”=

Earlier this year The TRADE conducted its inaugural Outsourced Trading Survey in partnership with Ergo Consultancy, exploring the shifting landscape. Around a third of respondents were asset managers.

Outsourcing in various forms has come to the fore in recent years, spanning from outsourcing the entire trading desk, to using providers for outsourced technology and operations.

The post Waverton Investment Management outsources trading to Northern Trust appeared first on The TRADE.