[ W E L C O M E L E T T E R ]
What a rollercoaster ride the past 12 months of the outsourced trading world has produced. The shock exit of UBS from the scene sent a ripple effect throughout the whole landscape as clients and premier talent sought new homes amid a continuous wave of interest in the sector. Two years ago, we opined that UBS may have had the most clients of all the providers out there – based on our survey responses – and yet here we are, with a gaping hole in the industry, and a reshuffling of the pack. Many competitors have hoovered up some of that ex-UBS business, while the unit’ s team members have been snapped up by the likes of Marex, Clear Street and BTIG. Just months after, BNP Paribas announced it would no longer offer outsourced trading services to external clients and instead turn its attention to solely servicing its internal asset management units. These two exits shouldn’ t be connected to any kind of drop-off in interest in outsourced trading however, as firms continue to warm to the idea in some capacity. Surveys from the likes of State Street, Coalition Greenwich and Northern Trust all point to
Never a dull day
The past 12 months has produced some unexpected twists and turns in the world of outsourced trading, but the constant remains the continued interest from buy-side firms in outsourcing some or all of their trading activities.
the same conclusion, as asset managers turn to outsourced trading not just as a cost play, but to improve operations, efficiencies and their breadth of capabilities by often supplementing their internal desk. The year has also been defined by larger buy-side institutions turning to the concept, and interestingly in our annual survey, those $ 500 billion + managers are the most satisfied with their providers. Despite the exits and consolidation, our survey – produced in partnership with Ergo Consultancy – continues to grow. Participant numbers have increased by 5 % this year, while the number of providers involved jumped from 19 to 25, making this our deepest data dive yet. This is the third annual Outsourced Trading Handbook and while we would not have predicted some of this year’ s storylines, we’ re delighted to have this dedicated guide to one of the fastest evolving and enthralling parts of the trading and execution( and service provision) space across the front-to-back-office world.
Jonathan Watkins Publisher,
The TRADE & Global Custodian
2025 // Outsourced Trading Handbook // 3