THETRADETECH DA I LY
THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF TRADETECH 2018
Increasing intelligence
Kenneth McLeish, head of equities trading technology, JP Morgan Asset Management talks to
TRADETech Daily about how the firm is using the latest advancements in machine learning and
artificial intelligence (AI), and what he’s looking forward to at this year’s TradeTech conference.
How closely is JP Morgan Asset Management
working with AI?
Kenneth McLeish: Intelligent analysis of data
has always been core to how we do busi-
ness. As volumes of data have exploded it’s
demanded even more sophistication in the
analysis of data. Machine learning and AI is a
natural evolution.
In what ways can AI technology improve trad-
ing desk operations?
KM: AI can solve a variety of problems, partic-
ularly in the context of trading desk opera-
tions. AI can, for example, be incorporated
into tools that increase the effectiveness of
traders and, conversely, come up with solu-
tions where traders aren’t required to handle
orders at all.
Around 40% of our flow is currently
handled autonomously. Our predictive
“Every time we execute
an order, the machine can
learn from the decision
and automatically know
what to do next time
around. This helps to
remove trader bias from
the equation.”
machine-learning platform can take orders,
categorise them and choose the best way to
execute them. Every time we execute an or-
der, the machine can learn from the decision
and automatically know what to do next time
around. This helps to remove trader bias from
the equation.
With so many firms now claiming to be working
with the technology, how do you distinguish
which FinTech firms are truly leveraging AI?
KM: It’s easy to get enticed by the sophistica-
tion of a new technology. The key is to focus
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THETRADETECH DAILY
on outcomes. Whenever we adopt new tools
or processes, we must ensure they are mea-
surable, repeatable and remain focussed on
the value of the outcome(s). It doesn’t matter
how good the marketing is if it doesn’t lead to
a quantifiable improvement.
What do you anticipate the hot topics to be at
TradeTech this year?
KM: With MIFID II adding complexity and
demanding higher transparency, I anticipate
this will lead to discussions around addition-
al efforts to make trading processes more
systematic. That may in-turn lead onto the
potential for greater adoption of big data and
AI in the trading space.
Are there any sessions in particular you are
looking to seeing? If so, why?
KM: I’m particularly interested in the “Drag-
ons Den” session for Fintech firms. Being part
of JP Morgan Chase gives us incredible scale
and shared knowledge, but we are equally in-
terested to hear and learn from others. Small
start-ups often provide a different perspective
and often have creative solutions to problems.