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[ B U Y- S I D E are requirements to post collateral; however there are no sophisticated collateral offerings especially at time of trade for the buy-side to use. What is your outlook for the deriva- tives market going forward? SV: It’s mostly positive as de- rivatives are an essential tool to express investment strategies. Derivatives may change their form or structure to adapt to market structure but will always be a part of the investment instruments used by managers. One area where the I N T E R V I E W marketplace can focus is to provide advanced analytics and easy to use relative value tools where futures, swap, cash and ETF’s for similar underlying instruments can be compared in one place. It is a rea- sonable ask and an opportunity. How is BlackRock looking to further develop its trading team? SV: We have evolved our trading teams in the last couple of years. Our traders are constantly devel- oping their skills and techniques to match what is required to trade | B L A C K R O C K ] in the market. A combination of skills involving technology, tactics and transaction cost analysis is what defines trading today. Trader judgement is central to this, supported by technical tools and data that allow for more informed decision making in today’s highly interconnected trading ecosystem. Having multi-generational teams consisting of experienced trad- ers and tech savvy traders allows for differentiation of thought and helps advance our trading techniques as well as develop our trading talent. Issue 52 TheTradeNews.com 57