[ I N T E R V I E W
|
R A L S T O N
the last five decades, we’ve made
it our mission to remain at the
forefront of advancements that
shape the financial markets.
The firm started with a simple
mission: To connect our clients to
information, the markets and each
other with greater transparency
and efficiency through the use
of advanced technology. That
focus has meant that we’ve been a
driver of positive change.
We created an array of now
industry-standard technologies
and the world’s first major
electronic trading venue. Our
founders envisioned a more
efficient marketplace where
everyone had access to the same
market data, and could connect to
other buyers and sellers directly.
That was important, because it
meant that investors could lower
their cost of trading, find better
prices, and put more of their
capital to work where it really
counts - in finding opportunities
for investment performance.
This was a very revolutionary
idea back in 1969 - of course
today the entire marketplace
has embraced these principles
of efficiency, fair access and
transparency.
HM: How has the agency-model
brokerage space changed over the
period, and what do you foresee
for the future of agency brokers?
RR: There are not many agency-
only firms anymore. Instinet
remains true to its roots as one of
R O B E R T S ]
“The last year for us was a period
of tremendous strategic reflection
about the past and the future.”
the largest, global agency-model
brokers. This client centric, “best
execution-focused” model seems
to actually be where market
regulation and client appetite is
going.
Removing potential conflicts
of interest and providing clients
with access to transparency and
efficiency will, in our view, always
be critical.
The consolidation that we’re
seeing in the industry right
now seems to be more about
achieving scale and profitability,
and right-sizing the competitive
landscape. Broker lists continue
to shrink, and clients are
increasingly focused on firms
that can demonstrate, in a data-
driven way, their ability to deliver
execution performance.
HM: In what ways have your
clients adapted to the evolving
execution landscape globally in
light of regulatory and market
structure changes?
RR: We’ve seen an increase in
the consumption of quantitative
data analytics, and in clients’
demand for and use of workflow
automation and liquidity
aggregation. The unbundling of
execution commissions has meant
that their focus on measurable
quality has dramatically
increased, along with their use of
advanced electronic platforms.
HM: What are your core focuses
for the business this year and
beyond?
RR: Our fiscal year begins in April
- so we’re currently in our fourth
quarter of the 2019-2020 year.
We’ve recently participated in the
go-live of Paxos, the blockchain
based settlement service. It’s
another exciting first for Instinet
and the marketplace.
We will continue to deliver
advanced technology workflow
solutions to both the buy- and
sell-side, we’ll keep investing in
next level quantitative analytics
capabilities and execution quality
consultation, and our work in
expanding our capabilities into
other asset classes will also
continue.
And what’s fascinating is
that the original mission we
started with in 1969 continues
to hold true for Instinet today:
To connect our clients to
information, the markets and each
other with greater transparency
and efficiency through the use of
advanced technology.
“What’s fascinating is that the original mission
we started with in 1969 continues to hold true for
Instinet today.”
48 // TheTRADE // Spring 2020