Traders keep jobs despite increased spend on robotics

Technology is augmenting human traders on institutional trading desks rather than replacing them, a study that charts a “modest” increase in trading-desk budgets has found.

Spending by institutional fund manager trading desks increased a “modest” 4% last year in Europe and the US, as headcounts remained steady and tech allocation increased.

According to Greenwich Associates, annual budgets average $2.8 million for fixed-income trading desks, $1.8 million for equity trading desks and $1.6 million for foreign exchange desks.

In general, desks trading less liquid asset classes allocate more to technology, with fixed-income trading desks devoting 41% of their total budget to technology, versus 36% in equity.

“This trend could indicate that when it comes to sourcing liquidity, the buy side finds that a marginal dollar spent on technology returns more than a marginal dollar spent on talent,” says Brad Tingley, market structure and technology analyst at Greenwich Associates and author of ‘Trends of buy-side trading desk spending’.

Tingley said that despite the growth of electronic trading and other technology tools, the data show that technology and automation “continue to augment human traders rather than replace them” and that with the support of improved technology, 44% of buy-side traders are now active in multiple asset classes, and more than two-thirds trade multiple instrument types.

© 2020 funds europe

HAVE YOU READ?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The tension between urgency and inaction will continue to influence sustainability discussions in 2024, as reflected in the trends report from S&P Global.
FIND OUT MORE
This white paper outlines key challenges impeding the growth of private markets and explores how technological innovation can provide solutions to unlock access to private market funds for a growing…
DOWNLOAD NOW

CLOUD DATA PLATFORMS

Luxembourg is one of the world’s premiere centres for cross-border distribution of investment funds. Read our special regional coverage, coinciding with the annual ALFI European Asset Management Conference.
READ MORE

PRIVATE MARKETS FUND ADMIN REPORT

Private_Markets_Fund_Admin_Report

LATEST PODCAST