The TRADE 50 | Page 3

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THETRADE
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JOE PARSONS
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©Strategic Insight London 2016.
The TRADE at 50
I
n 2004 when we launched The TRADE, the notion of what con-
stituted an equities transaction was changing. What had formerly
involved bilateral deal-making between fund managers and bro-
kers supplemented by lashings of corporate hospitality was becom-
ing the domain of physicists and philosophers who were turning to
machines and game theory to be on the right-side of average.
Algorithms were in their infancy, ‘upstairs trading’ had yet to adopt
the ill-advised moniker of ‘dark pools’ and at least one high profile
head of desk confidently predicted that a future defined by MiFID
would have a marginal impact on equites trading (you know who you
are!).
It was an industry in transition where the sell-side still dominated
but the buy-side wanted more control. Crossing networks were the
harbingers of change, not least Liquidnet, which did away with sell-
side intermediation. The first question put to a buy-side trader, in
the first interview, in the first edition was: “How independent do you
want to be?”
Fifty issues gone to press and the umbilical chord to the sell-side
is all but severed. The range of tools and services from algorithms
through to TCA on offer to the buy-side are no longer necessarily pro
bono, capital commitment is for the few rather than the many, and
MiFID II will squarely place the onus of reporting and analysis on
the buy-side.
The world of trading is entering a new era of choice and complex-
ity, where the sell-side is no longer a single-source provider but one
in which buy-side traders will need to shop around for third-party
services from TCA to big data management and regulatory reporting.
Fifty issues ahead and a scenario where the buy-side and sell-side
are more competitor than compatriot beckons. In this continuously
changing environment The TRADE will remain faithful to its brief …
working for the buy-side.
Although Strategic Insight has made every
effort to ensure the accuracy of this publication,
neither it nor any contributor can accept any legal
responsibility whatsoever for consequences that
may arise from errors or omissions or any opinions
or advice given. This publication is not a substitute
for professional advice on a specific transaction. No
reproduction allowed without prior permission.
John Lee,
founder of The TRADE
Winter 2016
TheTrade
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